


Patient: Omega

by the_ineffable_enhanced



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-06-14 02:31:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15378753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ineffable_enhanced/pseuds/the_ineffable_enhanced
Summary: Tien is not like other children. With a past that isn't clear, and a three year span of torture and manipulation in the Raft, Tien is rescued by a team called the Avengers. Taken to Stark Tower to keep her, and the people of the world safe, Tien is welcomed to the family, and trained to control her powers. On house arrest, she also realizes just how similar she really is to the God of Mischief himself.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy!

The human mind is truly the scariest thing of all. A tortured soul and a broken mind are the perfect combination for the worst recipe. I didn't ask to be in this position. In fact, I never asked for the things that caused me to be here. I never asked for the events that led to my kidnapping, which ultimately brought me to the Raft; or to be tortured by the people who were supposed to be protecting me. Three years I have had to live with electricity pulsing through my body from a collar that was clamped around my throat. It had gotten to the point where all I would have to do was barely move an inch, and a guard would press the button. I also can't help the way I look, which is why my fellow mutants thought it fun to join in on the torture.

But that is over now, and I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have been saved. Freed from torture, and the manipulation of my powers. I now sat, not in a cold and dirty cell, but in the back of a van, with two of the people who had rescued me. The last van I was in, took me to the Raft, and now this one is taking me away from it. I take a deep breath, and start to fidget with my fingers and I stare out of the window near my head. I release the breath slowly through my nose, and can't help but lift my hands to my throat, feeling the skin that has been burned and scared from the collar I once wore. I still had cuffs on, however, but I didn't complain, or argue with my rescuers. I know what these cuffs do, and why I am wearing them. The metal clanks as I lower my hands into my lap once more.

"Don't worry," a soft, protecting voice says from beside me. "You're safe now. We won't let them get you again." he reassures. I turn my head slowly to look at the man in the blue battle suit. I try my best to muster a believable smile for him, and I can see the concern in his eyes as I do. I wanted to smile, a real, genuine smile for the people who have rescued me from my ultimate death, but I couldn't. I didn't quite know how to anymore.

I look back out of the window beside me, and jump slightly when another vehicle passes us. I curse myself for being so jumpy, but I can't help it. I had just been tortured for three more years.

"We'll arrive at the Tower soon," the woman driving the vehicle announces. I nod slightly, and continue to stare out of the window. Resting my head against the glass, I can feel the warmth of the sun; a feeling I never thought I would experience again.

******

When we arrived to the tower, I was immediately taken to a room full of medical supplies, and the table-like structure you normally see at the doctors. My heart jumped to my throat at sight of it all, and I quickly froze in the door way. I tried backing away- visions of the various amounts of torture and experiments flashing through my brain- but was stopped by gentle yet sturdy hands on my shoulders.

"It's okay, Tien. No one is going to hurt you. We just want to get your wounds checked out, and make sure you'll be okay." the man in blue explains. I look up at him slowly, and catch a glimpse of protectiveness in his eyes. I nod slightly, and take a hesitant step into the room; my hands shaking wildly from the nerves.

The three of us wait for a little while before someone finally shows up. A taller man, with graying hair and a white coat steps into the room with a small clip board. My body tenses, and my fingernails dig into my palms.

"Good afternoon," the man greets, a small smile on his face. The pressure in my hands diminish slightly, but my hands still shake. The man from the van nods to the doctor, and explains where I came from, and what kind of exam I will need. The doctor nods, and unwraps the stethoscope from around his neck.

"Not a problem, Mr. Rogers." he doctor agrees. He approaches me, and I flinch back when he reaches for my cuffed wrists. He pulls his hands away, and raises them slightly in a surrender-like gesture.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to take these off, and check your wounds, okay?"

I stare at him for some time, before reluctantly holding out my arms for him to relieve me of the cuffs that make it impossible to use my powers. I rub my wrists once they are off, and can finally see the skin that has been rubbed raw from the tight metal. A strange surge of energy wells up inside of me and I can feel my powers beginning to flow to every inch of my body.   
The doctor begins to examine the burns around my neck, and I have to shut my eyes in order to keep calm. Mr. Rogers had offered me his hand, and I took it without hesitation; holding on just a little too tight.

When the doctor is finished, he moved to my other injuries, and stops when he reaches the scar on my right arm stretching from my wrist to my elbow. I dared to open my eyes, and was met by a look of concern, anger, and sadness. He looks up at me, and I wish I hadn't opened my eyes.

"How did this happen?" he asks, in a low, calm voice. I look to Mr. Rogers, who only gives me a small nod. I take a deep breath, and turn to the doctor.

"I found a sharp piece of metal in the cafeteria a few weeks ago," I begin to explain, in a voice much more timid than I had wanted to use. "That night, I decided I would die on my own terms, and not at the hands of the ones who tortured me." I pause, and look down at the scar on my arm; the jagged scar that will follow me for the rest of my life.

"It didn't work, and when the guards found me, they had me stitched up, and raised my voltage to second degree for a week." I finish. The whole room feels heavy after that, and I wished I could escape. The doctor nods slightly, and asks me to stand. I do so, but keep my hold on Mr. Rogers' hand.

"Do you have any other injuries?" the doctor asks. I nod shyly, and hesitate before letting go of my protector's hand, and lifting the thin shirt that was under my jumpsuit to show my stomach and ribs; which were littered with purple, yellow, and green bruises. The doctor sights, and checks to see if any of my bones are broken, before doing a few other simple tests.

When he is finished, I am released from the room with the woman who had driven the van, while Mr. Rogers talks with the doctor. The woman and I sit in a some-what comfortable silence until the conversation is done, and Mr. Rogers joins us once more.

"The doctor said that you should be fine, and heal as nicely as possible." he begins. "None of your bones are broken, but he did prescribe these pain pills that should help with your healing process and sleep." he explains. I nod, and take the pill bottle from his hands and hold them tightly. At that, the two of them begin to show me around the rest of the building. Where the labs are, training room, library, kitchen, dining room, and finally, my room.

I learned the names of my escorts, along with one of the other Avengers who was in his lab; Dr. Bruce Banner. The others, I was told, were on a mission that needed to be taken care of after my rescue. There was one that hadn't gone, like Dr. Banner, but no one seemed to know where they were; and quite frankly, they didn't seem like they cared. I was sort of hurt by this, but said nothing.

I was finally taken to my room, and Natasha turned to me as Mr. Rogers unlocked the door.

"This is just a temporary room," She begins. "Tony has a special design for your room, and hasn't quite finished setting it up yet." She explains. I nod hesitantly, and follow the two of them into the room.

There is a small area when you first walk in with a television and a small couch, align with a large wall that entirely made of windows. In the bedroom, there was a large bed, and a decent sized dresser. On the bed, there was a small pile of clothes, and I grew slightly confused. I turned to Steve and Natasha in question.

"Oh," Natasha began. "Those are some of my old clothes. I had to guess on sizes, but I hope they will work until we can go shop for some clothes for you tomorrow." she explains. I nod, and give her a small smile.

"Well then," Steve begins. "We will leave you to get settled. Either me, or Nat will stop by later to tell you when the rest of the crew get back so everyone can meet. Please, don't be afraid to make yourself at home."

I smile at the both of them, and do what I didn't think I would ever really be able to do again. I wrap my arms around the two of them, and I have to fight the tears from slipping down my cheeks.

"Thank you." I whisper, a tear escaping. Steve and Natasha each wrap and arm around me, before I finally let them go. They leave my room, and I return to the bedroom. I search the bathroom for a towel, and immediately strip from my prisoner jumpsuit and get into the shower once I find one.

The warm water stings against some of the more fresh burns on my neck, and I wince. I can feel the dirt and grime already washing away from my body, and my whole body seems to relax. I stay under the water a little too long, but I just can't get myself to leave the warmth just yet.

When I finish bathing and get out of the shower, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror; and almost yelp in fear at the person looking back at me. It is only now that I see the scars around my neck, and my deep purple sunken-in looking eyes that are decorated with dark circles around them. My once short, white hair now reaches the middle of my back, and my collar and rib bones are much more prominent. I stop when I see the bruises that litter the rest of my body, and hurriedly leave the bathroom to get dressed. I slip on the slightly baggy dark jeans, and black, loose fitting sweatshirt that Natasha had borrowed to me, before drying my hair, and crawling under the covers on my new enormous bed.

As soon as my head hits the pillow, the rest of the world fades to black.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would appreciate any comments that any of you have!

* _The air is cold, and the ground I lay on is hard, and obviously made of stone. Panic wells up in my gut at the sight of the familiar room, and I try to stand, but fail to when chains welded to the floor drag me down again. My breathing quickens, and I look around the room frantically; the mirror walls reflect my panic back to me, and I notice more things have changed. My hair is short again, and my eyes look less dark. The collar is clamped around my throat again, and I can feel the weight of it trying to drag me to the ground._

_A hidden door in the room opens, and my heart seems to skip a beat. From the secret door, an all too familiar, and terrifying face steps into view. A malicious smile finds it's way onto his face, and he looks more like a cartoon villain than a human being. His piercing eyes bore into my soul from behind his thin framed glasses, and it becomes more difficult to breath. A weight seems to build in my chest, and I feel as though there are stones in my lungs._

_"Did you really think you could get away?" a vengefully malicious voice emanates from him. My eyes begin to sting with tears, and I tug on the shackles that are clamped around my wrists. I look down at them, and refuse to look up again as he starts to make his way across the room towards me. He stops just before me, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to shut everything out._

_'I can't go through this again.'  I can hear him moving around me, and my body begins to shake. I can feel the panic attack threaten to take over me. I hold my breath, trying to force all of my feelings down, but completely fail when my face is grabbed and pulled up. His hands are cold and calloused, and finally I just let it all out._

_The scream is shrill, and blood curtailing, but it reflects everything welling up inside of me. Hot tears stream down my face, and I refuse to open my eyes. My body uncontrollably trembles and I take a shallow breath before releasing another scream._

_"Oh, dear," his voice echoes along the walls of my skull. "When will you finally wake up and realize what you are?"_

_Another scream erupts from me, and I struggle to breathe between the sobbing and screaming. My throat starts to ache and my ribs start to hurt, but I can't stop the banshee-like yell that splits through the air._

_"Wake up!" he screams, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me. "Wake up!" he repeats.*_

"Tien!" another voice rips through my mind. "Tien, wake up!" 

I jolt upright as another scream rips from my vocal chords. I look around the room frantically, tears still streaming down my face as I look for any trace of the man from my past. 

"Tien!" I voice calls, pulling me from my haze and I suddenly realize that a pair of hands are on my shoulders; gripping at them in a firm, yet gentle manner. I choke down the tears and another scream that threatens to break loose, and see the face of Mr. Rogers sitting in front of me. 

A sob emanates from me, and I quickly throw my arms around his neck, and bury my face in his shoulder. He wraps his arms around me as well, and starts to rub my back in a soothing manner. 

"It's okay, Tien, it's okay. You're safe, you're safe." he coos. I finally gain enough self control to be able to stop my sobs, and I hold on to him for a little longer than I should have. My body still shakes, and I hesitate before pulling away from him slowly. 

"Are you alright?" he finally asks after a few moments of silence. I look up at him quickly and struggle to find the words to say. 

"I-I'm so sorry," I stammer, my voice almost a whisper. "The nightmare was so. . .real." Steve sighs, and hesitates before saying anything. 

"What were you dreaming about. . ?" he finally asks. "We could hear you screaming all the way from the living room." My brows furrow slightly, and the tops of my ears burn with embarrassment. 

"W-we?" I ask. Steve nods. 

"The rest of the crew got back not too long ago, and I was just about to come get you to introduce you to everyone, and then we heard you screaming. Everyone followed me. You even got Loki to come out of his room to see what was going on." he explains, showing obvious shock at the last bit. My cheeks start to heat up and I start to fidget with the sleeve of the sweatshirt I am wearing. I look down at my hands, not sure what to say. 

"They're all worried about you. Got up here as fast as we possibly could to see what was happening." he adds. I look up at him, shock clear in my eyes. 

_'People were worried about me?_ ' 

Steve gives me a sad smile, and places a comforting hand on my shoulder. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks. I nod slightly and wipe the tears from my cheeks with my sleeves. I know he doesn't quite believe me, and I don't blame him. After what just happened, I wouldn't believe me either. 

"Well," Mr. Rogers begins, glancing towards my open bedroom door. "There are some people who want to meet you, if you're up for it." he gives me a kind smile, and the smallest of grins makes it's way onto my face. I nod my head slightly, and slowly slip out from under the covers, and rise to my feet. Steve wraps a protective arm around my shoulders, and guides me out of my bedroom, and into my small living room where there is a group of people waiting for me. 

The first one to notice me, is a tall man with raven-black hair, and marvelous green eyes. He was standing leaned against the wall when I walked in, but immediately straightens his posture when he sees me; an intrigued look crawling across his face. 

"This isn't exactly what I was expecting." he says aloud, causing the others to finally notice that Steve and I had exited my room. A muscular man with shoulder length blond hair shoots the dark haired man a look before speaking. 

"Don't be rude, brother. The girl has obviously been through a lot." he scolds. The other man glares, and crosses his arms over his chest. 

"I wasn't trying to be rude, Thor, I was just surprised. I've never seen someone like her before." he retaliates. His eyes shift from Thor back to me, and I panic; picking at my left palm. 

"I apologize, for Loki." Thor begins, causing said man to roll his eyes. "My name is Thor." 

I nod to him slightly, and search my brain for words. 

"I-it's nice to meet you." I finally conjure. "The both of you." I add, looking from Thor to Loki. The two of them give small smiles, and I can feel the riled-up nerves from my nightmare beginning to diminish. 

We go through the rest of the introductions, and my body finally stops shaking. 

"Well now that that is settled," Mr. Stark begins, rubbing his hands together. "Who's hungry?" he asks. Almost on cue, my stomach growls, and my eyes widen with a mix of surprise and embarrassment. I hadn't realized how hungry I was before now, and now everyone else knew as well. I avert my eyes to the floor, and try to stop my cheeks from becoming bright red. Steve places a hand on my shoulder, and I can hear Thor chuckle. 

"Let's get this girl some food then, shall we?" his voice booms. 

We all make our way out of my room, and to the main living room. I found myself sort of surrounded by my new housemates as we walked, and a ghost of a grin found it's way to my lips. A sudden surge of my power shot up my spine, and my whole body twitched. I tried to rub it off like nothing happened, thinking no one had seen it, but was proven wrong when Loki leaned down slightly, as he was walking beside me. 

"Are you alright?" he asks. I try to keep my eyes on the floor, but fail to as they shoot from the tile to his face. I open my mouth to explain, but close it quickly and nod instead. He gives me a questioning look, but stands up straighter again and continues walking. I try to think of a way to tell him, when an idea pops into my head. I don't know if it will work, but I can try. 

I brush my hand against his lightly as we walk, and in the small fraction of a second, send a message. 

_'I'll explain later if you'd like.'_

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see him almost stop walking, but quickly regains his composure, that looked more than shocked. And yet, there was still that glimmer of intrigue in his eyes. A smirk finds its way across his face and I feel a slight tingling in my brain. 

_'I look forward to it.'_ his voice echoes in my head. Now it is my turn to almost loose my footing as the tingling stops. I look up at him briefly, my eyes widened in surprise. He continues to smirk, however, and I can't help but give a small smile as excitement starts to well up inside of me after too long without it. 

_'I'm not alone.'_

******

I can't remember the last time I ate a piece of pizza. 

We all sat in a some-what comfortable silence as we ate, until Tony spoke. 

"So kid," he began, swallowing a mouthful of pizza. "What exactly are your powers?" he asks. I almost choke on the pizza I had been trying to swallow, but quickly recollect myself and start to pick at my left hand. I open my mouth to answer, but am cut off by an aggravated Steve Rogers. 

"What the hell, Tony? You can't just ask someone that!" he scolds. Tony's mouth gapes open and he makes a defensive gesture. 

"It's okay," I assure before anyone can say anything else. "It was just a question. I know everyone was probably wondering anyways." I mumble. Steve looks away from Tony and sighs. I take this as my cue, and took around the table quickly before settling my deep purple eyes on Mr. Stark. 

"I have six that I know of, and only four of them have a similar commonality." I pause and take a deep breath. "Those four are Telekinesis, Telepathy, Mind Control, and my ability to Conjure objects. The others, are my ability to Shape-Shift, and Cryokinesis." 

Tony nods along with what I say, and I notice that the others have begun listening intensely. I take another deep breath. 

"My abilities of Mind Control and Telepathy, as far as I know, are only able to work if I come into contact with the person I want to effect." My eyes flick to Loki briefly, and I can see a sudden realization in his face as to what happened on the way here. I look back to Tony, for any more questions. 

"Can we see a demonstration of one of these powers of yours?" he asks. Steve opens his mouth to protest, but I quickly answer. 

"How about when everyone is finished?" I suggest. "Whoever wants to watch, can come with me to the training room? It would be safer, at least." 

At that, everyone stands from their chair. 

  
"I think everyone is done," Tony comments, looking around the table. My cheeks flush and I look down at my still fidgeting hands. I stand slowly, and look up at every body once more. 

"Shall we , then?"


	3. Three

I stand in the middle of the training room, with the rest of the group gathered around behind me as I face a various abundance of objects that Tony collected for me to demonstrate my powers on. 

"What shall I start with first?" I ask, turning around to look at Tony and the rest. Tony shrugs. 

"Well, I don't really know what Cryokinesis is, so we can start with that." Tony suggests. Loki fold his arms over his chest, and sighs. 

"Cryokinesis is the manipulation of ice." he explains. I nod and gesture towards the raven haired man. 

"Exactly." I confirm. Loki has a proud look on his face, and I can't help but smile. I turn around to the table of various things Tony grabbed, and pick up a glass filled with water. I turn around again, and take a deep breath and sigh. 

"I haven't done this is a while so. . .forgive me." I warn. Everyone simultaneously nods, and I start to focus on the power that surges through my body. I can feel the chill of ice begin to move through my body like a separate set of veins, and focus it to the hand holding the glass. The palm of my hand, along with my fingers, begins to cover in frost, and the skin turns slightly blue. Slowly, the entire glass along with the water begins to turn to ice. I smile with pride at my accomplishment, and look to the group before me. 

Tony has an impressed look on his face, along with Steve, Thor, Bruce, and Natasha and Clint. I glance at Loki, and see a look I wasn't exactly expecting. A hint of pride was etched into his features, and I can't keep the smile from spreading across my face. The smile turns mischievous when an idea pops into my head. 

"Catch!" I shout, tossing the glass towards the crowd. Everyone seems to be caught off guard, and panics. I throw my arm out, and the glass halts in mid air; inches away from hitting Tony. His face grows pale, and he looks around the glass and towards me. I smile at him innocently, and call the glass back to me; ice turning to water them moment the glass touches my hand. I take a sip and put the cup back on to the table. 

"What shall I do next, then?" I ask, turning back to face my housemates. I turn around to see amused smiles, and a frightened Tony. A tang of panic grows in my stomach, and I immediately start to fidget with my fingers. I take a cautious step towards him, and hesitate before speaking my concerns. 

"A-are you alright?" I whisper. Almost as quickly as the words come out of my mouth, Tony regains his composure and pretends as if he was completely unfazed by my whole stunt. He adjusts the collar of his shirt and nods quickly. 

"Yeah, kid, I'm totally fine." he answers. Steve gives Tony an 'are you serious' kind of eyebrow raise, and the anxiety that was welling up inside of me disappears. I sigh deeply, and return to the table, hopping up to sit on it. I look away from Tony, who is currently trying to convince everyone that he is fine, and towards the only one looking at me. Our eyes meet, and I give a playful wink before a flash of dark purple engulfs me. 

His eyes widen slightly, and his arms drop to his sides. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted when a familiarly loud voice speaks. 

"Is that a snake?" Thor asks, pointing in the direction of the table upon which I sit. He starts to make his way over to the table, and gentle picks up the white snake with purple eyes. I take this opportunity to move from his hands to his shoulders, and perch myself there. I look to Loki again, and find a smirk on his face. 

"Guys, look! A snake!" Thor marvels. The group pulls their attention from Tony, and their eyes widen at the mamba around Thor's shoulders. 

"Where did Tien go?" Steve asks, worry clear in his voice. Everyone looks around the room, and I can't help but snicker internally at them. I focus my powers once more, and am engulfed in a flash of white. 

Finally back in my own form, I chuckle at the surprised expressions on everyone's faces; especially Thor's. 

"It's a lot higher up there than I had thought." I chuckle from my position on Thor's shoulders. The man begins to laugh, and his shoulders shake underneath me. 

"You remind me of when my brother and I were young." Thor comments. "He, too, turned into a snake, knowing I loved them so. He surprised me by turning back to himself and stabbing me." 

My mouth falls agape, and I look to Loki, who looks quite pleased with the story. I smile at him, and climb down from Thor's shoulders. I look to the rest of the group, and cross my arms over my chest. 

"How come the only one to see my last demonstration was Loki?" I ask, grabbing everyone's attention. I look to the ravenette, and give him a mockingly exasperated look. He smirks, and I look back to everyone else. "Do the rest of you not want to see what I have to offer?" I ask.

They all seem to sigh in unison, and Steve apologizes. I start to fidget with my fingers when I think about the powers I haven't demonstrated. I sigh, and collect the things on the table. 

"I suppose that is all." I say, hoping my last powers wouldn't be brought up. I look to Loki, who I know has been the only one to consistently pay attention- for whatever reason- and give him a pleading look. He nods slightly, and I know he won't bring either of them up. 

Everyone leaves the training room, and goes their separate ways. I return the objects Tony had taken to their original spaces, and start to make my way to the library. I was starting to feel drowsy from the use of my powers after not using them for so long, and thought a good book would possibly help me fall asleep, and fuel my dreams with adventures instead of the nightmares of my past.       

******

I finally found a book that peaked my interest, and rounded the corner from behind one of the shelves, and ended up running into something. I stumble back a few steps but catch myself nonetheless. I look up at the figure standing there, and I can feel my cheeks start to heat up from embarrassment. 

"I-I'm sorry," I begin, picking up the book that I had dropped. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to be in here." I explain. He smirks and gives a slight shrug. 

"Neither was I," he admits. I nod, apologize again, and start to make my way out of the library. I am stopped when a hand appears on my arm, causing me to flinch at the sudden contact, and stop walking. He takes his hand away quickly at my flinch, and shoves his hand into his pocket. 

"Your demonstrations in the training room were quite impressive," he begins. "It's a shame not everyone was paying attention."

I start to drag my thumb across the edge of the book in my hands, finding myself at a loss for words. Then a memory pops into my head from this evening, and I hesitate before speaking. 

"Loki," I begin, causing him to stand up a little straighter. "Did you really turn into a snake when you were younger?" I ask, my voice quieter than I wanted it to be. "Are you a Shape-Shifter?" 

Loki smirks, and is engulfed with green light. In his place, now sits a black cat with bright green eyes. I can't help the smile that spreads across my face as I kneel down in front of him. I hesitate, before reaching my hand out to touch the soft black fur. He rubs his head into my hand, and I can't help but giggle. I scratch under his chin and behind his ears, causing him to purr. I grin, and scoop him up into my arms and continue to run my fingers through his fur. He continues to purr, and I walk over to a small couch in the seating area in the library. 

I sit down carefully, and set him down in my lap. He closes his eyes, and continues to purr as I cuddle with him on the sofa. He closes his eyes, and a feeling I never felt before begins to swirl around in my soul. I know Loki feels it too, because the contact with him allows me to feel what he feels. I try to wrap my brain around the feeling, trying to figure out what it is. 

"We are kindred spirits, you and I," I whisper, voicing my realization. "I have never met someone who has such similar abilities as my own, and it made me feel more alone than I already knew I was." I voice. I don't know why it was so easy to speak these deep feelings to him, and I kind of felt bad for burdening him with it. But he never protested, just purred, so I continue. 

"Knowing that I am not alone in all of this is. . .comforting. So. . ." I hesitate. "Thank you, Loki." He nuzzles into me and a feeling washes over me that I didn't think I'd ever feel again. Safe. I sigh, and close my eyes as I glide my hand across his soft fur, until the rest of the world fades away, and I am left with just the feeling of content.


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the fluff sort of begins! I hope you enjoy!

Streams of light shine through the window, and I open my eyes to see that I am still in the library, lying on the couch with a- wait. . .when did I get a blanket? As the thought crosses my mind, I look around me with a glimmer of hope that I would still see the black cat that was Loki. Of course, however, he wasn't there, and I didn't blame him. I sigh, and rub the sleep out of my eyes before folding the blanket and draping it over the back of the couch. 

I think about going up to my room, but see a clock on my way out of the library and realize that everyone should be awake by now. I make my way to the main living room, and am met with the sight of everyone- except for Dr. Banner- lounging around; except for Steve, who was pacing madly. 

"I-is everything okay?" I say in a low voice, panic starting to swarm in my stomach. Steve's head whips in my direction, and a cloud of relief seems to sweep over him. He walks over to me hurriedly, and places a gentle hand on my shoulder. 

"Where have you been?" he asks in a hushed yet concerned tone. "I went up to your room to get you, and you weren't there." 

My cheeks heat up and I start to fidget with the cuffs of my sleeve. 

"I-I'm sorry," I begin choosing my next words carefully. "I went to the library last night after training, and I accidentally fell asleep with a book." I lie, leaving out everything about running into Loki. I didn't really see a need to explain any more than what was necessary.

Steve nods after a few seconds of silence, and I know he believes what I have said. 

"The reason I had tried to find you, was to tell you that the crew and I have to go out on an important mission, but we should be back soon." he explains; pausing before continuing. 

"Could you maybe keep an eye on Loki for us? I know it's a bit much to ask, especially on your first real day." 

My brows furrow at his words, but I nod nonetheless. I didn't mind to hang out with Loki for a while, but why was I supposed to watch him? Steve gives me a small smile as a 'thank you' and returns to where the group is now getting ready to leave. I was about to say goodbye to them all, but was suddenly picked up in a warm embrace. 

"It is nice to see you, Lady Tien!" the booming voice of Thor fills the silence of the room. I smile, and wrap my arms around him as well. 

"It is nice to see you as well, Thor." 

After that, the Avengers leave, and the room is silent once more. I look to one of the couches, and see the all familiar raven haired, green eyed man with his nose in a book. I stand in the same spot for a while, before a sudden feeling of hunger starts to gnaw at my insides. I turn towards the kitchen, and begin to walk. I hear shuffling from behind me, and then a voice. 

"Where are you going?" Loki asks, trying to catch up to me. I look back at him and slow down a bit for him to catch up, before turning back to face forwards. 

"I was going to make breakfast." I answer, my voice coming out much steadier than the last time I spoke. Loki nods, and continues to follow me to the kitchen. When we reach it, he sits down in one of the stools at the counter, and watches as I start to get things out for french toast. It's been a while since the last time I've done this, but I know I still have what it takes. I glance up at Loki a few times, and catch him watching my every move with a twinkle of wonder in his eyes. I couldn't help but grin at the sight. 

When I finally finished cooking, I grabbed a bottle of syrup from a small pantry and looked for another ingredient that I couldn't stand not using. I sigh when I don't see it, and return to the plates of food on the counter. I smirk when I see Loki still watching me out of the corner of my eye, and with a quick flick of my wrist, and container of powdered sugar is in my hand. 

"That was one of your abilities that you didn't want to demonstrate yesterday, right?" Loki asks for confirmation. I look up at him after sprinkling the sugar over the french toast, and nod my head. I hand him a plate, and I can tell by his expression that he want some sort of explanation. I sigh, and gesture to him to follow me to the table. 

"Most of my. . .torture. . .revolved around the abilities that I didn't demonstrate yesterday," I begin as we reach the table. "And Telepathy is. . .it's quite an intimate thing, and I didn't really think anyone would be willing to help in my demonstration of that." I explain. Loki nods, and a small smirk finds it's way onto his face. 

"Such an intimate thing," he begins, mischief in his smile and eyes. "Yet you did it so casually in the hall." he finishes. I can feel heat rising to my cheeks and ears and I try to think of the words to say.

"W-well I-I felt bad about not giving you an explanation, a-and it was the only thing I could think of that didn't involve everyone else." I practically spit out the words. I curse myself for speaking too fast, but I couldn't help it. 

"I was only teasing," Loki admits, taking a bit of his food. I give an embarrassed smile, and eat my food as well.   

******

After breakfast, Loki and I decided to go back to the library, and read for hours. I had lost track of tie until a voice echoed throughout the room. 

"Miss Tien, the Avengers have returned," it said. "Mr. Stark wishes to speak with you in the main room." 

I sigh, and close my book silently. I say goodbye to Loki, and make my way to the main room.  

When I get there, the only one there, as I suspected, was Mr. Stark. I walk up to him, and give him a small smile. 

"You wanted to see me?" I ask. Tony nods, and crosses his arms over his chest. 

"Did he do anything? Get into trouble, hurt you?" he asks. I raise an eyebrow, quite confused, and Tony sighs dramatically. 

"Loki," he explains. "Did Loki do anything bad or hurt you?" 

Baffled by his question, my mouth drops open and I am at a complete loss for words.

"Why would he hurt me?" I finally blurt out. "Why was I supposed to watch him? It seems a bit bazaar to me." I add, voicing my confusion. Tony sighs, and places a hand on my shoulder. 

"Listen kid, it's a long story, and I don't really have the time for that right now. If you want answers, ask him about what he did." he sighs. I cross my arms over my chest and narrow my eyes at him. 

"Did you need me for anything else, Mr. Stark?" I ask, growing a little annoyed with him. Tony nods, and hesitates before handing me a small remote like object. 

"Natasha wanted to see you as well, but I had to give you this first. Press the button if anything ever happens with Loki. Be careful around that guy, Tien." he warns. I take the remote, and little more hostile than I wanted to, and shove it into my pocket. He walks away, and I stare down at my feet.  

'What could possibly be so bad that I now need a remote for the Norse God that I have spent most of the day with?'

Almost out of nowhere, Natasha appears in front  of me. 

"Sorry about Tony," she begins. "He's just worried." 

I roll my eyes slightly and look up at her. 

"Anyways," she begins, changing the subject. "I know I told you that I would take you shopping for clothes and other things, but Director Fury wants to keep you away from the press until he can get a conference scheduled." she explains. "But, that doesn't mean you can't give me some ideas as to what styles you like, so that I can go out and get you stuff." 

I smile at her, and sheepishly shove my hands into my pockets. 

"Just simple things will do," I begin, trying to think of things I like. "Solid colored shirts, maybe some flowers too. Dark jeans and loose sweat shirts are my favorite." I tell her. She nods, and just as she is about to leave for the shopping, I stop her. 

"Is-" I pause, and hesitantly continue. "Is there any way I could get my hair cut?" I ask. Natasha thinks about it for a few moments, before telling me that she will see what she can do. I nod, and give her a small smile before she leaves. 

I sigh, and plop onto one of the couches in the room. 

'How in the hell is it only three o'clock?' 

******

When Natasha had finally returned, I was on the verge of sleep, still on the same couch. 

"Tien," she calls, grabbing my attention. I look up at her, and her arms are fulled with bags. My eyes open wide and I stand quickly to help her with a few of the bags. 

We take the bags up to my room, and she helps me put all of my new clothes into the wardrobe and dresser in my bedroom. I marvel at all of the articles that Natasha has chosen for me, and I can't help the happy tears that brim my eyes. I wipe them away before they can fall, and finish putting the last of the clothes into their rightful places. 

"Oh," Natasha exclaims. "When we are finished here, there is someone on another floor waiting for you." she says. I look over at her as I finish what I am doing, and raise an eyebrow. 

Natasha merely nods her head towards my door, and I follow her to the elevator where we go down multiple floors. 

I was about to ask Natasha who was waiting for me, but the elevator doors open, and the floor we are on is filled with salon chairs and stylists. My jaw drops and I look over to Natasha. 

"I asked Tony about the hair cut, and he said there was a place you could go without being seen." she explains. I smile, and look back to the room of chairs. 

Natasha leads me over to one of the stylists, who is a shorter woman, with long black hair that has one bright blue streak. She has wild makeup, but it seems to suit her. 

"Oh you're here!" the woman exclaims, throwing her arms up in excitement. I give her a nervous grin, and then we start talking about the style I want. 

I sit down in the chair as she drapes a cape over me and clamps it around my neck. I flinch, when she does so, and my body tenses. 

"Are you okay?" she asks, concern lacing her words. I nod quickly and try to relax my body. The woman nods, and gets out her shears and clippers, and looks at me in the mirror. 

"Are you ready?" she asks. I take a deep breath before nodding. She takes a strand of my hair in her fingers, and the sound of her shears cutting through my hair sends chills down my spine. 

******

When I had finished, I was beyond excited. I couldn't stop running my fingers through my hair, which was now less than an inch long all of the way around, and about five inches on the top. 

Walking back to my room, Natasha chuckles at the sigh of me playing with my hair. I look over at her and grin. 

We arrive at my room, and I thank Natasha again for all the things she has done for me. She nods, and tells me that everyone will be meeting for dinner soon. 

"I know they'll be pleasantly surprised." she teases, ruffling my hair. I give her a small smile, and then she is on her way to who-knows-where. 

The first thing I do, is pick out an outfit, and lay it out on my bed. I then get into the shower, and wash all of the hair that has clung to my skin after being cut. 

******

In black slightly-ripped jeans, and an army green t-shirt, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I finally look like myself again, minus the bruises and scars. My eyes are a bit brighter than before, and my hair is finally at my preferred length. 

I leave the bathroom, and head towards my door, reaching for it with my right arm. As my arm goes up, I spot my scar, and freeze. I stare at it for some time before forcefully pushing it to the back of my mind, and opening the door. 

'I can't let it control me. After all, the scars on my neck are now completely visible.'

Arriving at the living room where everyone was gathered, a small stone of panic appeared in my stomach, and I grew nervous. Paranoid about what they might say or think. As the thought crosses my mind, Tony notices me, and gives me a small smile as he passes. 

"It suits you, kid." he says, ruffling my hair. I smile back, and look back to where everyone else was. Now, they had all at least glanced in my general direction, and only two really said anything else. 

"Tien!" Thor booms, quickly making his way over to me and putting me up on his shoulders with ease. "I like what you've done with your hair!" 

I chuckle and smile down at him. Steve passes us and looks up at me. 

"It looks very nice, Tien." he begins. "Like Tony said, it suits you."

"Thank you," I say, resting my chin on top of Thor's head. The God of Thunder chuckles and slowly walks over to where Clint is handing out containers of Chinese. I catch sight of Loki, and realize that he has been staring the entire time. I give him a playful wink, and he instantly looks away, a very light shape of pink appearing on his cheeks. I giggle, and climb down from Thor's shoulders. 

I thank Clint when he hands me a container of food, and make my way over to the table where everyone is taking their seats. I notice something very quickly that makes me frown, and I fix it immediately. I sit down between Thor and Loki, as no one other than the God of Thunder himself would sit near his brother. It was then that I decided that I would sit there, beside Loki. I know what it's like being the one to sit alone, so as long as I am here, that won't happen. 

I slowly put my hand under the table, and pretend to scratch my leg; but in reality, with a quick flick of my wrist, a pair of chop sticks appears in my hands. I feel eyes on me, and look towards Loki, who I knew was watching, and smirk before bringing the utensils above the table and using them. It went unnoticed until Tony pointed them out. 

"Wait, where did you get chop sticks?" he asks, gesturing towards the utensils in my hand. 

"There was a pair in the bag," I lie. "No one had grabbed them, so I took them." 

Tony nod slowly, alone with everyone else, and we all eat our food in silence. 

******

When everyone finally finishes, and starts heading their separate ways, I subtly grab a few objects as I make my way to the training room. I look inside to make sure there is no one in there, and when the coast is clear, I quickly head inside and towards the middle of the room where there is the large empty space. 

I set down all of my objects in a neat little line, and hold my hands out and close my eyes. I imagine the four-by-six foot mirror, and feel a sudden weight in my hands. I set it down against a cart, and am almost impressed with my work. 

'At least now I'll be able to tell if my Shape Shifting abilities are accurate or not.'

Sitting down in front of the mirror, I try to think of what I want to transform in to. Twirling a pen in the air as I think, a sudden idea pops into my head, and the pen drops to the floor with a soft 'tink'. 

I focus on my reflection in the mirror, and clearly see what I want to turn into in my mind. It's height, weight, fur pattern, claws, nose, ears, paws, tail, teeth. . . 

My body is engulfed in purple light, and I close my eyes as I can feel my body warping into something totally new. It doesn't hurt, rather, feels like my entire body has fallen asleep, and that tingling sensation is all that I am. Until it stops. Almost instantly, all of my senses are completely surreal, allowing me to hear, smell, and feel things much better than I could before. I open my eyes slowly, and staring back at me in the mirror, is a huge white wolf, with deep purple eyes. I stand up from my sitting position, and turn slightly, trying to see every part of myself to make sure I've achieved my goal in completely turning into the majestic creature. 

I smirk internally, and raise my head as a low howl seems to erupt from my soul; coming out much more sorrowful than i had wanted, but I knew it fit. Another howl, and I almost didn't hear the door to the training room open. My howl ceases, and a low gravely growl escapes from my throat; my teeth bared and the hair on my back rises. 

The person standing there raises their hands in a surrender like gesture, and my growling stops when I recognize them. The hairs on my back lay flat once more, and my tail starts to wag. 

"At least now I know you're not going to try and kill me." Loki says with a smirk. I give him a wolfish grin before sitting down and with a flash of white light, I am back to my human self. Loki fake pouts as he walks over to where I sit. 

"I liked the wolf version of you." he teases as he sits down beside me. I gawk at him mockingly, and lightly punch him on the arm. 

"Oh, relax, little wolf, I was only teasing." he chuckles. I laugh too, and lay down on my back. 

"Well then I guess it's safe to say I liked the cat version of you." I tease back. Loki rolls his eyes playfully and pokes me in the side. I giggle and call the pen to me. It slides across the floor and into my hand. I twirl it around in my fingers, and look back over at Loki.

"So what brings you to the training room?" I finally ask. Loki shrugs. 

"Bored." he answers with a sigh. "Tried looking for you, but you weren't in your room or the library, so I assumed you'd be here." he explains. I stop twirling my pen and my brows furrow. 

"You were looking for  _me_?" I question. Loki nods. "Why?"

Another shrug. "You're the only one who talks to me, unlike everyone else, and I actually enjoy your company." 

I can feel heat rising up my neck and my cheeks feel like they are burning. I quickly use my Cryokinesis to cool down so it isn't obvious that I was flustered. We sit in a few moments of silence until Loki speaks again. 

"So what did Tony want earlier?" he asks, turning is body to face me. I hesitantly meet his eyes with my own, and debate with myself about if I should really tell him or not. But what came out of my mouth was something I wasn't really expecting. 

"Why is everyone cautious of you?" I blurt. His body tenses at my question, and an instant feeling of regret form a pit in my stomach. 

"I-I'm sorry," I begin, sitting up from my lying position. "You don't have to answer that-"

I am cut off by Loki putting one of his hands up to shush me. 

"It's fine," he assures, and begins his story. Stories of being captured by a Titan named Thanos, and the torture and mind control that led to the invasion in New York. As I listen to him speak, my chest tightens, and it feels like a thousand stones have piled up inside of me. When he finishes, I can see the small glint of fear that resides in his eyes as he recalls the memories, and I hesitantly hold one of his hands into my own. 

On contact, images and emotions start to flood my body of things I did not experience. Various amounts of torture and manipulation all mixed with fear and agony and panic. Each and every memory and feeling etching itself into my brain. When they finally stop, I am instantly light headed, but gasp for air as I pull my hands away from Loki's. My vision finally returns to me and the first thing I see is panic etched into Loki's face. 

"Are you alright?" he asks, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. Tears begin to well up in my eyes and I cover my face with my hands. 

"I-I'm so sorry," I sob. "I-I didn't mean t-to do that, it was an a-accident, I'm s-so sorry. . ." 

I can hear Loki sigh, and a pair of arms snake their way around me. I lean into him, but refuse to show my face. 

"It's alright, Tien. You're alright." his voice comes out low and soothing. He hesitates a few moments before speaking again. "Those stunning eyes of yours glazed over and I didn't know what had happened," he begins. "You looked dead." he whispers. 

I wipe away the tears that were streaming down my cheeks and look up at him. Concern was still clear on his face, but those emerald green eyes shined brightly. A single tear slips down my face, and Loki puts a hand on my cheek, and uses his thumb to wipe away the tear. I place my hand on the back of his and lean into his touch. He smiles at me lightly, and an idea pops into my head.   

Soft images of flowers, and sunsets, and how the sky is always to many different colors flow from my memories to his; and I watch as a small grin finds it's way to his lips. Images of mountains and lakes and snow; the calming crash of waves and the rhythm of rain. When the memories stop coming, Loki frowns a little, and his eyes meet mine. 

"What was that?" he asks, hints of wonder and amazement in his voice. I can't help but smile at him giddily as I try to think of the word to say. 

"They were things that kept me going," I start. "The beauties of life that made my tortures more bearable, because they gave me hope that one day I would be able to see them again." I pause, and start to fidget with my sleeve. 

"I wanted to show you that there were things out there that are still beautiful, no matter what has happened in the past." I explain, trying to make sense of it. Loki smiles at me, and pulls me close. I snuggle into his side, and close my eyes briefly; soaking in the comfortable silence that surrounds us until Loki speaks once more. 

"Kindred spirits indeed." 


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> erg

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_  

I jolt up in my bed at the sudden sound, and my heart starts racing. I take a few deep breaths before slipping out of my sheets, and heading to the door. I open it a crack, and standing outside with a small grin, is Mr. Rogers. 

"Good morning, Tien." he greets. "Sorry to wake you so early, but Director Fury wants to speak with you about something, and wanted to make sure it was taken care of soon." he explains. I sigh, and wave him in. He follows me hesitantly, and I gesture towards my couch. 

"I shouldn't be long. Please, make yourself at home." I say, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Steve nods, and takes a seat on my couch. 

I quickly go back to my room, shut the door behind me, and make my way to my bathroom, to strip from my pajamas, and hop into the shower. I wash as quickly as sanitarily possible,  and dry off before dressing in my ripped black jeans, and a dark burgundy long sleeved shirt. I brush my teeth and fix my hair, then go back to the living room where Steve is waiting. Before I leave my room though, I conjure a small piece of paper and a pen and write a little note for Loki, incase he comes looking for me, and place it on my bed. 

I walk out of my room, and Steve stands from his position on the couch. 

"Ready?" he asks, receiving a nod as an answer. I follow him all the way to a large room decorated with a lengthy table surrounded by chairs. At the head of the table, sits a man with an eyepatch and dark clothing. He stands from his seat and holds his hand out for me to shake. 

"Director Fury," he introduces. I hesitantly shake his hand, and then the three of us take our seats around the long table. 

"The reason I have called you here, is because I have arranged for a press conference to take place this weekend." he explains. "And Tien, I want you to make an appearance." he adds. "Nothing big, just stand up there and show the world what the Raft has done to you. You don't even have to answer questions, just look as broken as possible, and you should be fine." 

A pit forms in my stomach and I can feel my anxiety rising. 

' _Going up in front of people? There isn't a doubt in my mind that there will at least be a hundred._ ' 

I bite my lip lightly as the thought crosses my mind, and my anxiety still rises. I take a deep breath, and close my eyes briefly. 

' _If it means taking down places like the Raft, then I'm all in._ ' 

"I'll do it." I voice my decision, gaining a toothy grin from Director Fury. He claps his hands together and stands from his chair. 

"Great!" he begins, starting to shoo me out of the room. "I just want to have a couple of words with Captain America here, but you are free to go." he says. I nod, and look over to Steve as I make my way out of the door. He gives me a small reassuring nod, and I finally give in to taking my leave. 

The door shuts behind me, and I was about to walk away, and back to my room, when a word floats through the air and worms it's way into my brain. 

' _Monster_.'

I put my ear to the door, and try to listen to what they are saying. I know eavesdropping is wrong, but I had to listen. 

". . .we can't let her leave the building otherwise." Director Fury's voice comes in. "For all we know, she could be a monster like the rest of those enhanced kids were." 

My body starts to grown numb, and I strain to hear more. 

"Did you ever wonder why Xavier wouldn't take her? He has all kinds of freakish people in his organization of his, but he wouldn't take her? What does that look like to you?" 

After that, their voices here too hushed to hear, and I stagger away from the door; my knees feeling weak and my whole body numb. I let my feet wander to wherever they want to go, and find myself in the training room. Empty, to my luck. 

' _Monster_ ' pounds at the inside of my head, and I squeeze my eyes shut as I make my way to the center of the room. ' _Freak_.'

I grit my teeth as I stop walking, placing my hands on either side of my head. 

' _She could be a monster like the rest_.' 

And then I couldn't take it. An ear splitting scream rips from my throat and various objects fly around the room as I fall to my knees. Weapons of all kinds now lodged into the floor, walls, and ceiling. Carts knocked to their sides, and glass shards scattering the floor. 

My hands and arms start to coat themselves in frost and the words begin to echo in my head once more until I let out another infuriated scream, slamming my palms against the floor; instantly covering the entire room in a thick layer of ice. I can see my breath as I exhale a shaky breath, tears welling up in my eyes. 

A few moments go by before there is banging on the outside of the door, but I don't move from my spot on the floor. Instead, I find my hands reaching for the scars on my throat and arm, and those  areas start to cover in a thin layer of frost. 

' _Monster._ ' 

A single tear drops as the door to the training room finally bursts open. Silence. 

More tears start to stream down my cheeks, almost freezing from the cold that I have burdened this room with. 

"Tien?" Steve's voice calls, causing me to flinch. He takes a step inside, and as his foot hits the ice, the frost suddenly pulls away from his foot. And then the rest of the frost in the room starts to shrink back to where I kneel on the floor. I try to choke back the sobs that threaten to break out and destroy the silence, but fail to when there are a few gasps from the small group at the door as they see the destruction I have created. 

A sob escapes my lips, and my body shakes violently as I stagger to my feet to face them. I try to wipe the tears away with my sleeve, but then I spot him in the small crowd and I stop. They were all looking, but I didn't care- I ran to him anyways. When I reach Loki, I instantly wrap my arms around him, and bury my face in his chest, muffling my sobs. He wraps his arms around me gently and lowers his head. 

"Darling, what's gotten you so upset?" he whispers, only loud enough for me to hear. Without really thinking, I reach out to his mind, and play the memory of what I heard earlier, and I can instantly feel the anger and rage welling up inside of him. I grip the back of his shirt, readying myself for yelling, but it doesn't come. Instead, he takes a deep breath, looks around the training room, and then his eyes land on Mr. Rogers. 

"This," he sighs, sweeping his arm in the air at my destruction. "This is what ignorance does." 

There is silence, and then we are engulfed in green light. Suddenly, we are no longer in the training room, but in a room I didn't recognize. 

"Here," he says, guiding me over to a small couch. "It's going to be alright." 

He sits down, and without much thought, I climb onto his lap and position my head under his chin, and wrapping my arms around his torso. I take a deep breath, taking in his scent, and my body instantly starts to relax. 

"You are my new pillow." I hum, closing my eyes and snuggling closer to him, if even possible. I receive a hum of content from Loki, and a small smile finds it's way onto my face. 

"You have a nice smile." his voice comes in low. I can feel heat climbing up my neck and going to my cheeks, and I try to hide my face. Loki chuckles, and I try to focus on his heart beat, which eventually lulls me to sleep. 

******

It is what brought sleep upon me which woke me now. His beating heart was calm and steady, and I was too afraid to move; scared that I might wake him if he was still asleep. I shift slightly, and Loki hums. 

"Awake now, are we?" he asks in a low voice. I lift my head to look at him and give him a small smile, receiving a small grin in return. 

"You slept most of the day," he comments. "I wasn't sure you'd wake any time soon." 

I can feel heat rising up my neck and the tops of me ears beginning to heat up, and I hide my face in his chest. 

"You didn't have to sit here the whole time, you know." I say, my voice slightly muffled by his shirt. Loki merely shrugs and takes a deep breath. 

"I didn't mind. And besides," he says, with another shrug. "You looked at peace while you slept. I couldn't risk disturbing that." he finishes. I look up at him at this, and search his face for any and everything I could gather. I looked long and hard, but all I say was a man broken by years of tragedy and pain, forced to do the unthinkable. Not the monster everyone said he was. He was kind, and just as deserving of love as the rest of them. 

As the thought crosses my mind, my eyes flick to his lips, and then those stunning emerald eyes. Loki catches my quick eye movement, and a smirk appears on his face. He places a gentle hand on my cheek, and kisses my forehead. I sigh, and slowly move from his lap to the couch cushion beside him; laying my head on his shoulder. I lift my right hand slightly, and my finger tips to my elbow cover in a light layer of frost; and small snow flakes start to drift from my palm and up into the air. I sigh once more and sit up to 'examine' my hand. 

"I should apologize," I whisper. "I made quite a fool of myself, and practically destroyed the training room." I groan and shake my hand once, causing the frost to disappear. I stand from my position on the couch, and peck Loki lightly on the cheek. 

"I suppose that's what I'll do then." I say, standing up straighter to leave.

"Must you go?" Loki asks with a mischievous grin, standing from his position on the couch as well. I give him a small grin and place my hand on his cheek. 

"I won't be gone long." I promise. He nods slightly, but I can see the slight disappointment in his eyes at my leaving. I gaze into his eyes for a few more seconds, before letting my hand slip from his face, and leaving his room to find Tony. 

Trying to find Tony was pretty easy, considering I only had to check on place. I found him in his lab, and gave the door a light knock before entering. He looks up from some sort of highly technical machinery, and opens his mouth to say something. Before he can, however, I blurt my apology. 

"I'm sorry," I begin, causing Mr. Stark to close his mouth. "I'm sorry for what I did in the training room. It was uncalled for, and I made quite a mess." I pause and start to fidget with my fingers. "Is there anything I can do to help in any way?" I add. 

Tony gives me a small smile and turns back to what he was previously doing. 

"I accept your apology, kid. And no, don't worry about the mess. I've got that covered." he says, pressing a few buttons. "You might want to talk to Rogers, though. He was pretty worried when you and 'Mr. Rock of Ages' disappeared." 

I nod, and try not to chuckle at the nickname for Loki. I hesitantly make my way out of the lab, and start to look for Mr. Rogers. I didn't know where his room was, and I didn't really know where he spent most of his time here, so I went to the first place that popped into my mind. 

A wave of relief hit me when I found him where I checked first. Sitting on one of the couches in the living room, was Mr. Steve Rogers. I hesitantly walk over to the couch he sits on, and take a seat at the opposite end of the sofa. He doesn't react, and panic starts to fill me. 

We sit in silence for a while until I muster the courage to speak. 

"Mr. Rogers I-" 

"You don't think that I believe that, right?" he blurts, cutting me off. I was too surprised by the fact that he had spoken, so I raise an eyebrow slightly in question. He looks over at me and I can see the worriedness in his eyes. He takes a deep breath before speaking again. 

"You don't think that I believe you're a monster, right?" he hesitates. I flinch at the word monster, and curse myself for doing so when I see the look in his eyes when I do. I start to pick at the skin on my left palm, as I think about my answer. 

"I don't know," I whisper, looking down at my hands. Steve takes a deep breath and exhales deeply. 

"I tried to defend you," he says, causing me to look up at him. "What Director Fury said was uncalled for, and completely untrue. You're not a monster, Tien." 

I look up at him briefly, tears beginning to well up on my eyes, and I look back down at my hands as a single tear slips down my cheek.

"At least one of us believes that."


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING:  
> !!Mentions of sexual assault!!  
> Aside from that, I hope you enjoy!

The conference came much sooner than I had hoped. I stand at the foot of my bed, staring down at a black dress that Natasha had picked out for me. I hate dresses, but I have to keep in mind that this was for the downfall of the Raft, and that is the only reason I will be doing any of the things I had to do today. Mr. Rogers was going to be the one to speak throughout the conference, explaining some of the things that those people had done to me; things I haven't shared with anyone before. I was nervous. No, not nervous- petrified.

I had written my experiences on note cards for Steve yesterday, and I didn't stay long enough for him to read them in front of me. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the look in his eyes as he read. Especially because of what happened earlier this week. I knew he didn't believe I was a monster, but that didn't mean I believed I wasn't; and he knew that.

I take a deep breath and sigh as I air dry my hair with my towel, and slip into the dress. I was a little snug in a few places, and I already regretted agreeing to all of this. I leave my room, and meet Natasha in the hall.

"It looks nice." she comments, having me turn for her to examine the knee-length black dress, and the flats that went with it. The straps were thin and made my protruding collar bones much more visible. I would take the Raft prisoner jumpsuit over this any day. I give her a weak smile, and avoid meeting her eyes. She places a hand on my shoulder, and uses her other hand to move my face to look at her.

"It's all going to work out fine, alright? It'll be over before you know it." I sigh and nod my head. She then leads me to the living room where everyone is waiting- except Dr. Banner- looking quite dapper. I keep trying to subconsciously cover my body with my arms, crossing my arm over my chest and mid-section; gingerly touching the scars on my neck as I do so.

They finally notice that we have arrived, and stand from their seats. I can feel heat rising up my neck as their eyes land on me, and I look down at my feet.

'You look lovely.' a voice echoes in my head, leaving a tingling sensation as it comes and goes. I look up quickly, and my eyes meet Loki's instantly. A shy smile makes it's way onto my face and I bashfully look back to my feet; fidgeting with the hair at the nape of my neck. I can feel the smirk coming from Loki and I take a deep breath before looking back up at everyone.

"Are you ready, kiddo?" Tony asks, adjusting this suit jacket. I nod slowly and follow them to the vans that I had arrived to the Tower in. In one van, there was Clint, Tony, and Thor; and in the other, was Steve, Natasha, Loki, and myself. I sat in the back seat with Loki, and Steve and Natasha were in the front; Steve driving this time. I stare out the window as we drive, picking at my left palm as I do so; thoughts and visions of what might happen during the conference running through my head. I almost jumped when a hand suddenly reached out and gently held mine. I close my eyes and give it a light squeeze before looking over at him.

'Thank you.' I say, reaching out to his mind. He gives me a light smile and closes his eyes as he leans his head against the head rest of his seat.

'If it gets to the point where you can't handle it anymore during the conference, just look over to me, and I'll get you out, okay?' he says, not moving from his position. I give his hand a squeeze as an answer, and look out of the window once more.

******

"During her time in the Raft, Tien had been tortured, manipulated, and assaulted on multiple occasions." Steve begins, and I can feel the uneasiness radiating from him as he scans over my cards.

I stand on the stage, a few feet away from him, with my arms hanging at my sides; fists balled. My finger nails dug into my palms as I listened to Steve tell my story. Camera flashes create bright dots that cloud my vision, and I fight the urge to look over at Loki. I finally duck my head slightly, and squeeze my eyes shut. My heart beat booms in my ears and begins to drown out the sound of everything around me. Memories flash behind my eyelids and my nails dig deeper with every one that comes and goes. I am only pulled back to reality when a tingling sensation in my head sends a shiver down my spine.

'Are you alright? Do you need me to get you out?' his voice is calm and soothing, and I shake my head slightly. He hesitates before breaking the connection, but I can still feel the worry coming from him. I open my eyes and a sudden flash makes me light headed. I stumble slightly, and bring my hand to my head. Another flash and a memory of electricity pulsing through my body zips across my mind. More flashed and I can feel my hands starting to freeze over. Finally, I give in, and look to Loki; my eyes pleading to be rescued. Without hesitating, he joins Steve and I on the stage, and starts to escort me away. There are a few unhappy retaliations from the crowd, but Steve jumps in quickly, saying that I was still trying to heal from my experiences, and needed to rest. I was thankful for that, and made a mental note to thank him later.

"Are you alright?" Loki asks as soon as we are out of earshot from the conference. I look down at my hands, and see the frost that has begin to cover them. I look up at Loki, tears brimming my eyes and shake my head. He sighs, and opens his arms to embrace me. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest, silent sobs erupting from me.

"Shh, it's okay, little wolf. I won't let anyone hurt you. You're safe." he coos, rubbing my back with one hand and cradling my head with the other. Tears stream down my cheeks as memories of my years in the Raft cloud my mind, making it hard to breathe.

We are soon joined by Tony, and Thor, who seem awfully surprised to see me clinging to the God of Mischief.

"What happened, kid? You were doing great." Tony speaks. I can feel the annoyance building in Loki, and I send a message to him for Tony.

"Hearing her experiences being told to all of those people became too much to bare. Not to mention the fact that all of those camera flashes brought back memories of the shock collar." he explains. Thor and Tony nod, and I jump slightly when Thor's hand appears on my shoulder.

"You are very brave, Lady Tien. Not many people could have gone through the same things as you, and been strong enough to continue your fight. Be proud of that." he says with a soft smile. I look over at him and wipe the tears from my face.

"Thank you," I whisper, receiving a reassuring squeeze to my shoulder. The frost along my arms begins to diminish, and I let out a sigh of relief. I don't know what I would have done if something went a little too far, and I ended up hurting someone by accident.

We wait for the conference to be over behind the stage until Steve, Clint, and Natasha finally join us. When I see Steve, I stand up from my chair, and make my way over to him; wrapping my arms around him once I reach him.

"Thank you," I begin as he wraps his arms around me too. "For all you've done."

Steve sighs and ruffles my hair.

"Don't thank me," he says as I pull away from him. "You're the one who was brave enough to share your story. There isn't a doubt in my mind that the Raft, and other places like it, will be shut down because of what happened today."

I give him a soft smile, and look down at my feet shyly. I never really thought I was brave. Not until two of the bravest men I know told me I was.

"Now that that's over," Tony begins, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He pulls out his wallet, and a thick wad of cash.

He shoves the cash into his pocket, and hands his wallet over to me.

"Why don't you and Mr. Rock of Ages go and have a little fun outside of the Tower? It'll be good for you guys to go outside." he says. My eyes widen and my jaw drops. I stare at the wallet in my hands and then up at Tony.

"Are you serious?" I ask, my voice quiet. Tony nods and gestures towards Steve with his thumb.

"It was his idea, not mine." he admits. I look over to Steve who rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I had to make it up to you somehow after what happened last week, and I know you like to hang out with Loki." he begins, glancing down at his feet occasionally as he speaks. "Besides, it'll be good for the public to see that the two of you aren't as dangerous as they want to believe."

A small smile falls onto my face, and I wrap Steve in a tight hug.

"Thank you." I whisper, causing him to chuckle and ruffle my hair. I back away from him, and look over at Loki, who seems just as surprised as I am. I smile at him, and glance back to the rest. This should be fun.

******

Before we left the conference hall, I went into one of the bathrooms, and conjured a dark pair of jeans, and a black, long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of red converse. I changed out of the dress I was wearing, and into those clothes. When I had left the bathroom, everyone except Loki seemed surprised, and was confused as to where I had gotten the clothes. I merely gave them all a mischievous wink, and asked if they would take the dress with them to the Tower.

Natasha took it, and asked if I had wanted to keep it. I thought about it for a few moments, before finally nodding my head. I might need it in the future. After that, we went our separate ways. Tony offered to borrow one of his cars to us, but Loki and I decided to just walk instead. Besides, I haven't actually been on a walk in ages. Tony shrugged, and handed me a new phone.

"All of our contacts information is in there. Just call or text if you need anything." he said. I thanked him for the phone, and looked up a map of the area.

"Have anything in mind that you'd like to do?" I ask Loki as I brows over the map. I really didn't know what to do. I've been an experiment almost my entire life. Loki shrugs, and looks over my shoulder at the map on the screen.

"I don't know much about what Midgardians do for fun." he sighs. I nod and chuckle lightly.

"You and me both." I mutter.

I finally find a place near-by that I recall hearing other kids my age taking about a long while back.

"C'mon," I say, taking one of Loki's hands in mine; beginning to walk towards the arcade. "I think we might like this one."

I almost drag him at first, but he quickly matches my stride with his long legs.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" he asks, after a few moments of walking in silence. We reach a cross walk and my grip on his hand subconsciously tightens. I look up at him and muster my best mischievous grin.

'Nope.' I answer, reaching out to his mind. He rolls his eyes, but a smirk finds its way onto his face.

'Such a tease, little wolf.' he replies. I can feel blush making it's way to my face, and I quickly look down at my sneakers as we cross the road once the light tells us we can. I follow the directions that the map gives me, until we are standing just outside of the Dave & Busters. I look up at Loki, who looks down at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Ready?" I ask, a hint of excitement in my voice. I couldn't help it. I'd never been to an arcade before, and I couldn't wait to see what all of the fuss was about. I receive a soft smile from Loki, and a light nod.

I lead him inside, and we approach a young woman at one of the help desks.

"Hello," she greets with a smile. "What can I help you wi-" she stops once she looks over at Loki. A light blush finds its way to her face, and a feeling I wasn't really used to started to whirl in my stomach. Was I. . .jealous? I shook my head lightly, trying to make the thought leave my head.

'I'm not jealous. What's there to be jealous of?' I asked myself. Deep down, I knew what it was. I knew why I felt the way I did at the moment; but that little voice at the back of my head kept telling me that the feeling would never be returned.

I cleared my throat, both out of frustration with my own feeling, and as a way to get out of the awkward situation.

I let go of Loki's hand that I realized I had still been holding, and shove my hands into my pockets to keep myself from succumbing to the urge to fidget. He looks over at me, confused, but I deny myself the ability to look over and into those captivating emerald green eyes.

"I-I'm sorry." the young woman begins, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "What can I help you with today?" she finally asks. Part of me became annoyed with her, and I hated it. There was no reason for me to feel like this. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Two cards with the maximum amount of points, please." I say, much calmer than I had expected to; but with a layer of annoyance just under it. The woman stared at Loki for a few moments more, before nodding, and turning to a counter behind her to retrieve our cards. My head started to tingle, and part of me wanted to put up a wall; but I let him in anyway.

'Are you alright?' Loki's voice comes low and cautious. It was then that I had realized he had not looked away from me once since I released his hand. He almost seemed. . .hurt. . .by what I had done. I hesitate greatly before pulling my hand out of my pocket, and intertwining my fingers with his. Instantly I could feel that what I thought was correct. He was slightly hurt by what I had done, but he was worried at the same time. I take in a shaky deep breath, and look over at him.

'I'm sorry I'm just. . .on edge because of the conference. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise.' I reassure. He nods slightly, but I know he doesn't fully believe me.

He releases the connection and the woman returns with our cards, and I take Tony's wallet from my pocket; having to release Loki's hand to take out one of the cards. She hands the cards to Loki as I fish for Tony's card. I finally find it, and hand it to her. Loki hands one of the cards over to me, and a small slip of paper falls onto the floor from between the playing cards. My breath hitches slightly, and I bend down slowly to pick it up off of the ground. All feeling and emotion seems to drain from me once I see what's written on the card, and I feel completely empty; almost as cold as the ice that runs through my veins.

I stand up again, and the woman gives Tony's card back to me with a small smile, thanking me for coming here; which I'm assuming is the company policy. I look up at her, my purple eyes looking hollow, and give her the fakest real smile I could muster.

Loki leads me away from the desk, and into a slightly darkened area just outside of the room with all of the games.

"Tien," he begins, his words laced thickly with worry. "Are you sure you're alright? Don't lie to me, I'm the God of Mischief and Lies, remember." he says, a hand on both of my shoulders. I can feel my eyes start to sting with tears, and I squeeze my eyes shut to keep the tears from slipping down my cheeks. I hold up the card the woman had written on, and open my mouth to speak. I hesitate, but finally blurt out:

"Did you want this?" -cursing myself for my voice cracking as the words tumbled out of my mouth. I open my eyes to see Loki staring at the slip of paper with extreme confusion. He took it from my hand gently, and looked at the numbers scratched onto it; his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why would I want this?" he asks, turning the paper over a few times in his hand; still seeming very confused. I scoff a little, and curse myself again; now mustering up the strength to explain it without letting the sobs that were building up escape.

"Sometimes, when a person likes another person, they give them their phone number so that they can start talking, and eventually start dating." I explain slowly, a single tear escaping my eye, and gliding down my cheek. Realization appears on Loki's face, and his eyes go wide. He looks down at the paper in his hands, and then to me; his expression rapidly changing from shock to one of the softest expressions I have ever received. He places a hand on my cheek, and uses his thumb to wipe away the stray tear. I can't help but lean into his touch, and a small sob escapes me. I cover my mouth with my hands, and squeeze my eyes shut as a few more tears slip down my cheeks. He sighs softly, and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close to him. I bury my face in his chest, and wrap my arms around him as well, gripping at the back of his shirt. He rests his chin on top of my head and takes a deep breath.

"If you are worried that I will try to contact that Midgardian woman, then you are worrying for nothing." he says in a low, comforting voice. "Besides," he begins, placing a finger under my chin and lifting my face so that I am looking at him. "I know you feel what I feel." he says, a small smirk on his lips. My face heats up, and I am grateful for the darkness of the area we are in. He leans in slightly, but stops, and meets my eyes with his.

"May I?" he asks, his voice low. I bite my bottom lip lightly, and a soft 'yes' escapes my lips. His eyes flick from my eyes to my lips, and he starts to close the distance. Everything seemed to stop, until a hoard of children stampeded by; tossing prizes around, and hollering like mad-men. I squeeze my eyes shut, chuckles escaping from both Loki, and myself. I take his face in my hands and press our foreheads together.

"I suppose another time, then?" I whisper, opening my deep purple eyes to meet his stunning green ones. Loki chuckles again and smirks.

"Until then," he begins, copying my motion by taking my face in his own hands. "Let us enjoy the rest of our day, alright?"

I smile at him, and he kisses my forehead lightly. He stands up straighter, and holds out his arm for me to take.

"Shall we, then?" he asks, a mischievous grin plastered onto his face. I smile at him giddily, and take his arm. 


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some cute stuff in this one :D

I think his favorite games were the ones where you had to pick up prizes with a metal claw. He was surprisingly good at those. I tried a few times, and I only got one prize without cheating. It was a plush white wolf, that I ended up giving to Loki. He tried to tell me that I could keep my prize, and that he could always get another one, but then I told him that I won it for him, and he shut up quickly. I turned my back for less than two minutes to play the Tower of Power game, and he comes back with a plush black cat with green eyes. His cheeks were a little pink, even in the darkened arcade, and I couldn't help but find it absolutely adorable. That cat didn't leave my side the entire time, and neither did the plushie he got me.

When we had finally swiped our cards to see how many points we got, I was quite surprised to see how much there was between the two of us. We browsed around the prize room for what felt like hours before we finally drained our cards of points. I think I ended up with the most stuff, and that's probably because Loki almost refused to pick things out for himself. Then I showed him where all of the candy was, and he almost took the entire supply of gummy worms and cherry lolly pops.

Most of the things I picked out were to put around my room; such as a tiny disco ball, a dart board, a purple salt lamp, and tiny action figures of my housemates. I even managed to find one of Loki! Other things I got, included a plush jelly-fish hat (which had tentacles that reached my waist, making me look a lot shorter than I really am), a foam sword and matching daggers, a Chinese finger trap, and a giant bag of gummy bears. I let Loki mess with the finger trap on our way home, and he still had his fingers stuck when we reached the Tower.

We had stopped by a small restaurant and ate on our way back, and it was now well after half-passed midnight. I was relieved when we returned and passed the living room to see it empty of our house mates. Loki walked with me to my room, and I thanked him for the wonderful time.

"The pleasure was mine, little wolf." he said with a playful bow. I smile and wrap my arms around his middle, (more likely than not hitting him in the face with my hat) and bury my face into his chest.

"Hey Loki?" I call, my voice muffled by his shirt. He hums, and I take a deep breath. "Do you believe in soul mates?" I ask. He hums again and takes a deep breath.

"I believe that some souls are meant to find each other, yes. And if, or when they do, I think that they will feel like their life can finally start beginning. Nothing in the past will matter anymore. All that matters, is the other soul." he answers. I can feel my cheeks heating up and I chuckle.

"Aw, Loki, you sap." I tease. He rolls his gorgeous green orbs and pushes my hat down over my eyes. I move my arms to pull it up and glare at him, but instead, he takes my wrists gently in his hands, and before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine, and the whole world seemed to stop. My breathing hitched, and part of me almost backed away, surprised by the action. But instead, I melted into the coolness of his lips, and my knees felt weak. Butterflies whirled in my stomach, along with another feeling I didn't quite understand, and my heart started to race.

He broke away slowly, and I could feel the grin that was undoubtedly on his face. I slowly pry my wrists from his hands, and lift the hat off of my head. My eyes searching his entire face, looking for any hint that he had felt it too. And it was there, in his eyes. That was when I knew.  _Safe_. I grinned at him, and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him again. I knew, that the moment my lips touched his, I was home.

******

"Miss Tien," a voice began, ripping me from my deep sleep. "The Avengers wish to see you in the main living room." 

I sit up in my bed groggily, and rub the sleep from my eyes. "Thanks, Jarvis. Tell them I'll be there in a minute." I yawn. 

"Very well, Miss." 

Tony taught me about Jarvis a few days ago, after I was startled almost half to death when he suddenly spoke one day.

I slip out from beneath my sheets, and make my way into my bathroom, quickly throwing a clean set of clothes on my bed as I do so. I bathe, brush my teeth, and go back to my room to dress in a dark pair of jeans, and an army green t-shirt. I throw on my red converse, and make my way down to where everyone was supposedly waiting for me. 

Lo-and-behold, everyone was gathered in the living room as I had been told, and they all seemed to be dressed in workout clothes of some form or fashion. 

"Hey, kid," Tony greets as he spots me. "How would you like to do a little training with us today?" he asks. My eyes widen slightly, and I scratch the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Are you sure?" I finally ask, letting my hand slip back to my side. "I don't go on any missions or anything, I might just get in the way." I say in a small voice. Tony waves his hand at me and stands from his chair. 

"Nonsense," he begins. "Besides, you gotta learn how to defend yourself in case the Tower ever got attacked." he says, glancing at Loki briefly as the last bit comes out of his mouth. I roll my eyes and shove my hands into my pockets. 

"My powers will be able to protect me." I whisper. Tony sighs.

"Look, kiddo, I know you think you'll just be a burden, but you might join the team a little sooner than you think, and you have to know how to defend yourself in all sorts of situations." he sighs. I can feel heat rising to my cheeks, and I finally give in, and agree to train with the gang. Thor claps me on the shoulder gently, and gives me a bright smile. 

"Don't worry, Lady Tien! You will do fantastically!" he booms. I look down at my shoes bashfully and thank him in a voice only he could hear. A wad of cloth is tossed at me, and I barely react in time to catch it; having to use my telekinesis to keep a black sock from hitting the ground. I retrieve the sock from the air, and look up at the person who had thrown the clothes to me. 

Natasha smirks, and places her hands on her hips. 

"Well you certainly can't train in jeans and converse," she explains. I nod, and follow the team to the training room, where I go into a small bathroom to change into what Natasha has provided for me.   

Once I change, I almost don't recognize myself in the mirror. I have been provided with a black sports bra, black spandex leggings, black socks, and black tennis shoes. I felt, and looked so exposed. Brown and yellow bruises from my time in the Raft were visible on my sides, and I began to wonder if they would ever go away. My collar bones seemed like they were about to poke out of my skin, and the pinkish whitish scars on my neck were made much more visible, considering the drastic difference in color from my black attire. 

Part of me wants to ask Natasha if she had anything that might be a little more modest than just the bra, but I knew she would just tell me I'd be thanking her for the small amount of layers later. I sigh, and gather up the clothes I had previously been wearing, and force myself to fight the urge to hold them in front of my exposed midsection. 

I walk out of the bathroom, and all eyes land on me. I can feel heat rising up my neck, and I look down at the ground as I set my other clothes off to the side. I only look up again when a hand appears on my shoulder. 

"You look fine," Natasha says in a low voice so the rest of the team won't hear her. "You can just train with me for today if you want to." she offers. I give her a small smile, and accept her offer. 

******

The hand-to-hand combat training wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, but I knew I'd be feeling it in the morning, or even later today. Natasha seemed a little surprised by how much I already knew, but then I explained that there were kids younger than me on the Raft, and I knew someone had to stand up for them; even if that meant I got beat. Now, that wasn't the entirety of how I knew how to fight, but no one needed to know the other reason just yet. 

Weapons training, on the other hand, was my favorite thing that we did. I got to use my powers a little bit for this one, and it was actually kind of fun. Natasha had set up various amounts of targets and dummies around for me to practice on. The first thing I did, was form icicles in both of my hands, and threw them at one of the dummies; impaling it in the head, and stomach. I got some praise for that from Nat, and I caught a glimpse of Loki, who was staring. A mischievous grin appears on my face, and my fingers twitch, causing the head of the dummy to make a 180 spin. His eyes go wide, and I merely wink. He finally looks away, and to where Thor and Steve are sparring. 

I turn back to my dummies and targets, and make the mistake of conjuring a dagger, and throwing it at one of the targets. My eyes go wide at my mistake, and I can feel the color draining from my face. 

"Where did you get that-" I cut Natasha off, and grab hold of her arm, and making a connection. 

'Please don't tell anyone.' I plead, making eye contact with her. She is surprised at my sudden telepathy,  but nods nonetheless. I sigh, and release her arm, breaking the connection. 

"Was that one of the ones you didn't show us a few weeks ago?" she whispers. I nod, and quietly tell her why I hadn't shown it. She nods along, and sighs when I finish. 

"You know you're going to have to tell them soon, right?" she says, slightly gesturing towards where the others are training. I sigh, and look over to them. A grimace finds it's way onto my face as an idea pops into my head. 

"Do you think I should do it now?" I ask in a whisper, picking at the skin on my left hand nervously. Natasha shrugs and crosses her arms over her chest. 

"It's up to you, kid." she says. I look back over to where the rest of the team is, and take a deep breath before starting to make my way over there. 

'Here it goes.' 

"Hey guys?" I call, quickly grabbing everyone's attention. 

"What's up?" Tony asks, panting from a previous spar with Steve. I look down at my hands briefly and then back up at them. 

"I have a few things that I need to show you guys that I didn't when you first asked about my powers." I blurt. Steve opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off quickly. 

"Before you say anything, the only reason why I didn't want to show them, was because most of my. . .tortures. . .involved them." I explain. An expression I hated to see on people ended up on everyone's face except for Natasha and Loki. Pity. 

"Well," Steve begins, taking a step towards me. "What are they?" he asks cautiously. I take a deep breath, and with a small flick of my wrist, Steve's shield is in my hand. There are a few gasps from a couple of my housemates, and I fight the urge to close my eyes and hide. 

"I have the ability to conjure items," I begin, handing Steve his Vibranium shield. He studies it for a moment, making sure it is real, and not just a duplicate. "I can communicate Telepathically, and I can Control Minds." I finish. Clint takes a hesitant step backwards at the last part, and I follow suit, thinking I've said something wrong. 

Steve looks up at me from his shield, and gives me a comforting smile. "You don't have to show us the other ones right now if you're not comfortable doing so." he says, as a hand appears on my shoulder. I look over to see Loki, and place a light hand over his. 

"I'll need a few volunteers if I'm going to show them." I say quietly. Thor, Loki, and Steve volunteer, and form a small line in front of me. The others, gather on the other side of the room to watch. I take a deep breath and shake my hands quickly to rid myself of the nerves. I haven't done this in a while. 

"W-who wants to go first?" I ask, cursing myself for letting my voice falter. 

"I will," Thor says, stepping forward. I nod, and glance to the other two before giving a small smile to the Asgardian before me. I lift my arms to place a hand on either side of his face, but hesitate and look into this sky blue eyes. 

"Ready?" I ask in a small voice. Thor smiles and places a strong hand on my shoulder, and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

"You have my trust, Lady Tien." 

I take a deep breath, and place my hands on either side of his face. Instantly, my vision leaves me, and I am surrounded by darkness momentarily, until a bright light appears, and an image -that is a little hazy around the edges- of a world I have never seen before flashes before my eyes. 

Glimmering towers, and a palace of gold send chills down my spine. Another flash, and then I am standing in a large hall, with Thor just a few feet away from me. 

'Where are we?' I ask, looking around me and taking in the memory. Thor hums, and looks around briefly as well. 

'My home,' he begins, a small smile on his face. 'This is Asgard.' he answers. My eyes widen and I stare at the God of Thunder. 

'It's beautiful.' I marvel as another flash of light brings me to just beyond Asgard, so I am taking in the whole realm at once. 

I finally pull away from Thor's mind, and I gasp for air once my hands leave his face, and my vision comes back to me. My head spins and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to steady myself. 

"Are you alright?" Loki asks, placing a hand on my shoulder. I nod, and finally open my eyes. Steve looks shocked, and almost a little scared. Panic threatens to swell in my body and I raise an eyebrow slightly at him. 

"A-are you alright?" I ask, starting to pick at the skin on my left hand. Steve quickly pulls out of whatever trance he was in, and nods slowly. 

"Do your eyes always fog up like that when you go into people's heads?" he finally asks. It was then that I realized what had spooked him. I nod my head and force myself to stop fidgeting. Steve sighs, and shakes his head. 

"You looked dead," he whispers. I can feel heat rising up my neck and to my cheeks, and I look down at my feet. 

"What'd you see?" Tony asks from where he sits, observing. I turn to him and take a deep breath. 

"Asgard." I breathe. "I saw Asgard, and it was fantastic." Images flash across my mind of the beautiful things I had seen, and I can't help but grin. Tony nods, and I turn back to my volunteers. I look to Steve, and give him a small smile. 

"Want to go next?" I ask, a little more confidently this time. He grins, and nods his head. I take a step towards him, and hover my hands over either side of his face. 

"Ready?" I ask. Mr. Rogers nods, and I carefully place my hands on his face. There is darkness, and then a small light appears in the distance. I go to it, and am immediately in another place I don't really recognize. I look around, and spot a familiar face. Standing behind a taller man in a uniform, and two women, is a short, scrawny version of Mr. Steve Rogers. They all stand, watching a man on a stage- who demonstrates his newest model of a flying car. 

There is a flash of light, and then we are in a hall way filled with naval history, and I see Steve looking into a picture of a group of soldiers. Suddenly, the man with the uniform comes up to him, and I can't hear what they are saying. Then one word rings through my ears like a whistle.

'Bucky,' comes from Steve, and I can only assume that is the other man's name. A sudden feeling of love and admiration comes from Steve towards Bucky, and I can't help but grin like an idiot. There is another flash, and the biting chill of winter nips at my cheeks, and I realize that I am standing on top of a train. I look down, and see Steve reaching for Bucky, who is hanging from a rail that looks like it is about to break. 

Panic wells up in my gut, and I move to try and help- even though deep down I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything-  but just as my foot takes a single step forwards, the railing breaks, and Bucky falls. Despair and guilt from Steve rushes over me, and I can feel my eyes beginning to sting with tears. 

I pull away now, and release Steve's face. I realize now that I really had begun to cry, and I tried to take a deep breath. I look to Steve, who now is crouched on the ground, gasping for air. A few tears slip down my cheeks as I crouch down beside him, and place a careful hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me, and I can see the tears that threaten to fall from his eyes. 

"I'm so sorry," I whisper, more tears falling. He looks back down at the floor, and an I let out a shaky breath. I give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before standing and wiping the tears from my face. I offer Steve a hand, and he takes it. I help him to his feet, and search his face. I give him a soft smile, and in return, I get a sad one. 

"You were right, Captain. It is scary when she does that." Thor booms, causing Steve and I to chuckle. Cap nods, and ruffles my hair. I sigh, and turn towards Loki, burying my face into his shoulder. There is a tingling in my head, and I let him in. 

'Are you alright?' he asks, obviously concerned. I nod my head and sigh. 

'Tired.' I answer. Loki hums, and places a kiss on top of my head. 

"I guess we'll call it a day then," Tony says, rising from his seat on the other side of the room. I sigh in relief, and retrieve my other clothes from where I had left them. I leave the training room with the others, and go straight to my room to shower, and get dressed into some more comfortable clothes.  

******

I changed into the clothes I had been wearing earlier today, and left my room quietly. I almost yelped when I saw a familiar green eyed black cat sitting across the hall. I sigh, and crouch down as he walks over. I run my fingers through his silk like fur, and a purr starts to rumble from within him. I smirk, and scoop the cat up in my arms and cradle him like a baby. 

"Such a pretty kitty~," I purr, causing Loki to nuzzle into me. I hold him close, and make my way down to the living room. Already there, is Thor, Steve, Tony, and a nice woman I met the other day named Pepper. She notices me first, and gives me a warm smile. I return it, and take a seat on one of the couches where Thor sits. The Asgardian looks over at me and the cat in my arms suspiciously, before a knowing grin makes its way onto his face. 

I glare at him and kick him lightly with my foot. 

'Not a word,' I say, sending a message through the brief contact. Thor nods and ruffles my hair. 

"Where did you get a cat?" Tony finally voices, looking at me with a puzzled expression. I look down at the purring cat in my arms and shrug a lie. Loki rubs his head along my jawline and then nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck. I hold him close, and my shoulder seems to vibrate from the purr coming from him. 

"Found each other a while ago," I whisper, gliding my fingers through the hair on the cat's back and head.  Tony merely nods, and turns to the television. 

We ordered pizza later, and spent most of the night watching movies of various kinds. It was nice to just sit around with my housemates, and not have to worry about anything. The rest of the gang eventually joined us, and no one but Thor knew that the cat sleeping in my lap was the God of Mischief himself. I smiled to myself secretly as I continue to run my fingers through his hair. It was something I could get used to. 

By the time we had finished the last movie of the night, I was exhausted; from both training, and staying up as late as we all did. I said goodnight to everyone, and went back to my room; Loki sleeping soundly in my arms. I thought about taking him to his room, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I climbed into my bed, not bothering to change into pajamas in fear of waking him up, and lied myself down so that he was sleeping on my chest. 

With a hand still stroking the soft black fur of Loki's cat form, I drifted to sleep.


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING:  
> Descriptions of violence and blood  
> (Yes I wrote this one in third person, don't judge me)

It has been about a month since Tien began training with the Avengers. Natasha Romanoff has been Tien's main teacher in her physical training; helping her in improving her hand-to-hand combat skills, along with maintaining a strong and healthy build. Not a lot of people would recognize the tortured girl now. Her once thin and beaten body is now healthy and strong. She isn't as timid as she used to be. Her relationships with the Avengers have grown stronger, and one could easily say she has gained a handful of protective parents. Except for the God of Mischief, of course; things are different there. Tien has allowed herself to practice with all of her abilities more, and has figured out a way to reach the minds of other people without having to physically touch them. She has begun to practice in shifting into other people, but that still needs a little work before it can come out during a battle. But today, Tien didn't have any training, and was quietly browsing amongst the books in the library, flipping a dagger made of ice in her hand. Footsteps boomed from the library entrance, and Tien stopped flipping the blade. She listened to the steps for a moment, and quickly recognized who it was. She absorbed the ice in her hand, and stepped out from behind the bookshelf she was looking at to greet him. "Hey, Steve," she says, grabbing a book she'd been eyeing from the shelf as she passed. "What brings you down here?" Steve Rogers smiles at Tien, and gestures towards the library entrance with his thumb. "The team wanted to talk to you about something important," he begins, causing Tien to raise an eyebrow. "They're all gathered in the living room waiting for us." he adds. Tien sighs, and holds the book to her chest to cross her arms. "You know I don't like surprises." Tien glares. Steve merely grins, and turns towards the exit. "Yes, but I also know you well enough to know that your curiosity is already getting to you," he teases. Tien huffs a breath, and runs a hand through her short hair. "You guys are going to be the death of me, you know that?" she chuckles. The two of them walk in a comfortable silence until they reach the living room where everyone was waiting; like Steve had said. Tien looks around the room briefly, and her eyes land on a familiar dark haired being. 'What's going on?' she asks, reaching out to the mind of the God sitting on one of the sofas. He shakes his head in reply, and Tien frowns, looking back to the rest of the group. "You guys wanted to see me?" she asks, drawing attention to herself and Steve once they've entered. Tony Stark stands from his seat and shoves his hands into his pockets. "We got a problem, kid, and we want your help in taking care of it." he vaguely explains. A small amount of panic threatens to take over Tien's nerves, and she quickly diminishes it by glancing at Loki briefly. "What kind of problem?" she asks, now shoving her hands into her own pockets. Steve steps up from standing slightly behind her, and begins to explain. "A group of enhanced are causing trouble down town, and Director Fury wants us to take care of it. So, we were hoping you would help us as well." he says. Tien's eyes widen slightly at his words. 'I'm going on a mission?' she asks herself. She looks around the room to the rest of the group, and they all nod in confirmation. A thought crosses her mind, and she frowns. "What about Director Fury? What'd he say about me going?" she asks. Tony sighs from where he stands. "Kid, no matter what anyone else says, you're an Avenger. Even if you don't go on this mission. It's up to you." he states calmly. Tien nods, and looks down at her feet briefly. 'What do you think?' she asks Loki, reaching out to his mind and making a connection. 'It is like Stark said, little wolf. It is up to you. Just don't get hurt.' he scolds, causing Tien to chuckle lightly. She look back up at the group and nods. "I'm in." she answers. Thor stands excitedly from his seat, and picks Tien up in a warm embrace. "I cannot wait to fight alongside a warrior such as yourself, Lady Tien!" he booms. Tien laughs, and hugs him as well. Thor finally sets her down, and Tony hands her a highly technological cuff. Tien stares at this for a moment, before looking to Tony for answers. Tony sighs and gestures to it. "Just put it on and press the button." he grumbles. Hesitantly, Tien follows orders, and presses the small purple button. Instantly, her attire of dark jeans, a black t-shirt, and red converse, slowly shifts into a black corset and a thin black overcoat that matches, black pants, and black combat boots with dark purple accents. A belt with sheaths and daggers hug around her waist, and there is a small hidden dagger in her right boot. Surprised by the outfit change, Tien looks up at Tony with wide eyes. "Well, you're going to need a super suit. Didn't want to burden you with anything too crazy. Natasha helped with the design." he explains. Tien thanks the two of them, and can't help but marvel at her very own costume. "Oh," Tony begins, gesturing towards Tien. "If you want a 'superhero name' or whatever, you can pick one now, or later. If you don't then that's fine too." he says. Tien nods, and begins to think about it. Nothing seems to fit until a single word crosses her mind. "Enigma." she breaths, looking up at Tony from her clothes. "I'll be The Enigma." ****** Tien was told to stay in the jet and keep Dr. Bruce Banner calm until she was needed during the fight, and so that's what she did. She sat beside the scientist, and held one of his hands in hers, and sent calming feelings and images to him. The battle a few blocks away was still raging, and she began to wonder if she should go an help. But she was told to stay, and the memories of what was done to her if she didn't follow directions was still stuck in her mind, keeping her in the jet. Tien didn't think that her new family would do such horrible things to her, but she didn't want to risk it either. "Hey kid, we could use some help out here. Got an enhanced kid with extreme hyper speed, and he's super skittish." Tony's voice comes over the comm device in her ear. She nods to herself and press the small button. "On my way." she reply. Tien looks to Bruce, and gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Are you going to be alright if I leave you here alone? The team needs some help." she says in a low, soothing voice. Dr. Banner gives her a small smile and nods. "Go do what you have to do. I can hold off the big green guy. Thank you for everything you've already done." he says. Tien smiles at him, and make her way out of the jet, and to the battle. When she gets there, teams of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are already starting to gather the defeated enhanced, and loading them into vans to take them to safe houses. Tien looks around for her team, and finally spot them all some-what circled around a boy who looked to be around her age. His body constantly twitched, and his movements were so fast, you could barely see them. Visions of the other experiments from her past flash across her mind, and a shiver runs down her spine. She regains her composure, and slips into the circle between where Captain America, and Iron Man are standing. She spots Loki across from her in the circle, and spares a few seconds to take in the whole picture of him in his battle armor and horned helmet. She had to admit, it was stunning. "Nice of you to join us." Tony says from inside of the suit, taking Tien's focus back to the skittish boy in the middle of the circle. The fear in the boy's eyes is all too familiar to Tien, and the panic draped over him makes him look more like a lost puppy than a trouble making teenager. "What do you need me to do?" Tien asks, not taking her eyes off of the boy. "Just calm him down enough for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to load him up into one of the vans that they've made for kids like him." Stark explains. Tien nods, and takes a small step towards the middle of the circle. There is a tinging sensation in her brain as she does so, and she let's the God of Mischief in. 'Be careful, love.' he warns, worry clear in his voice. Tien nods, and the tingling stops. She takes another step, and the boy notices her. His eyes go wide, and in the blink of an eye, hid hands fly behind his back, and come back around with a hand gun. He points it shakily at Tien, and cowers slightly. "D-d-d-don't!" he shouts. "Don't c-c-c-come any c-c-clo-closer!" At this, the rest of the Avengers start to charge into the circle towards him, but Tien hold them all back with her telekinesis until they stop struggling. "I'm not going to hurt you," Tien says, her voice soft and sending calming feelings to the scared and skittish boy. She hits a wall that has been put up in his head, and she carefully starts to pick away at it without the boy noticing. "Please," she begins, taking another slow, shallow step. "Put the gun down." The boy before her shakes his head with a lighting quickness, and continues to point the gun at her. By now, Tien's heart is pounding in her chest, but she surprises herself even with her calm exterior. She knows it would be so much easier to just use her powers to take the gun from him, and knock him out, but she wants to give him a chance. She knows what it's like to be faced with brutality before kindness. Tien raises her hands in a surrender like gesture as she takes another small step. She continues to pick at the wall, and keep the attention of the boy on her. The whole group is tense, and Tien can feel it all radiating. Just as the wall in the boy's mind breaks just enough to let Tien through, the boy's eyes go wide. "No!" he shouts. The echo of the gun going off caused Tien's ears to ring, and her hold on the boy's mind tightened. In an instant, the boy was carefully lowered to the ground via telekinesis, and was unconscious. Everything around Tien muffled, and her whole body felt numb for an instant. Everyone was still, until Loki finally ventured to Tien's side. "Are you alright?" he asks, placing a gentle hand on the white haired girl's shoulder; his voice coming in muffled. Hazily, Tien looks over to him, and Loki's already worried expression worsens when he sees the glazed over look on Tien's face; the life leaving her beautiful eyes, even though she was not dead. By now, the other Avengers have made their way over to her, and all look almost as concerned as the Norse God. "Tien?" Cap questions, also hesitantly placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. On contact, all color drains from Tien's face, and her knees give out beneath her. Loki catches her before she hits the ground, and it was then that everyone noticed the blood streaming heavily down her left side. The Enigma, had been shot. "Get her to the jet! Quickly!" Captain America orders, trying to keep the worry and panic from his face and voice. Fighting for consciousness, Tien tries to help Loki in getting her back onto her feet. Effortlessly, he picks her up bridal style, and starts to hurriedly take her back to the jet they had all arrived in. A dull pain started in Tien's side, and she winces as she gingerly touches the skin around the wound. Loki looks down at the girl curled in his arms, and places a soft kiss on top of her head as he climbs into the jet with her. "It's alright, love, you're going to be alright." he coos; sitting down with Tien pulled closely to him in his lap. Tien rests her head on his chest, and can hear his heart beating almost as quickly as hers had been from the nerves. She frowns, and in the midst of her own pain, tries to send calming feelings and images to Loki in order to calm his heart down. The God chuckles slightly bitterly, and carefully moves a few strands of hair that had fallen over her face. "Now is not the time to be thinking of others above yourself," he scolds gently, worry and panic clear as day to Tien in his voice. Tien's eyelids begin to feel like led, and they flutter closed a couple of times as the jet begins to take off. Loki frowns, and cups one of Tien's cheeks in his hand, the other firmly pressing a thick piece of cloth against the girl's side to try and stop the bleeding. "You're going to be alright, I've got you. Stay awake for me, okay?" he pleads, low enough so that only Tien will hear. "Please, Tien," he begins again, as her eyes slowly start to close; his heart beginning to race. "Let me see those stunning purple eyes of yours." Tien fights to stay awake the entire ride back to the Tower, and almost falls unconscious three times. When they finally return to the Tower, she is immediately rushed to the medical room, and is worked on immediately. Thor had to practically pick Loki up to keep him out of the way of the doctors. But when they had finally finished, Loki wouldn't leave that room for anything. Thor had come into the room a fifth time since the doctors had finished patching Tien up to check on the two of them, and almost got a dagger lodged into his skull. Loki glared at his brother, but didn't move from the chair beside Tien's bed. Thor took in the scene, and crossed his arms over his chest. "By the Gods!" Thor booms once realization hits him. "You love her, don't you!" "Ssh!" Loki shushes. "Be quiet! You blundering oaf! You'll wake her up!" he hisses. Thor sighs, and leans against the door frame. "But you love her, don't you?" he asks again. Loki looks away from his adoptive brother, and to the white haired girl in the bed. "Was it that obvious?" he asks after a few moments of silence. Thor grins and stands up straighter. "Have you told her yet?" he booms. Loki glares, but shakes his head nonetheless. Thor frowns. "Why not?" he asks. "It is obvious that she also has feelings for you." he adds. Loki scoffs and looks back to Tien. "Yes, but that doesn't mean she loves me as well, Thor," he says in a low voice. Thor nods slightly, and sighs. "Well, Brother, I suggest you tell her. It does not do good to keep such things to yourself." The Asgardian says. And with that, he was off.


	9. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff

Beeping was what had woken me. The steady beeping of a machine caused my eyelids to pry themselves open; blinding me with a bright white light. I squeeze my eyes shut, and only peek around once the pain from the brightness had left my head.

I look in the direction of the beeping, and am met with a heart monitor, and a stand covered in IV bags. That was when I noticed the needle with tape over it in my hand, and the thick gauze wrapped around my midsection. Then it hit me, almost as quickly as the bullet had.

I was shot.

I look around the rest of the room, and almost jumped when I saw a figure in the chair beside my bed; sound asleep. I slowly release the breath I hadn't realized I was holding, and fight the urge to reach out and touch him. He looked so peaceful as he slept, and I couldn't bare to disturb his serenity. Loki deserved the rest, especially if he was in here because of me.

I didn't realize just how stupid what I did next was. Not until I had already done it. I sat up. Propping myself up on one of my elbows, a sharp pain erupts from my side, and I hiss; a small growl gurgling in my throat. I squeeze my eyes shut, and grit my teeth, the pain knocking the air out of my lungs. I took a deep breath, a little more harsh than I had expected, which was quickly followed by the rustling of movement from beside me. A hand appears on my cheek and shoulder, and one of my hands lingers over the pain in my side.

"Tien! Are you alright?" Loki's voice breaks through the light haze that the pain has put me in. I inhale as deeply as I can, and release it slowly through my nose. I can't help but lean into his touch.

"I'm okay," I breath, more-so trying to convince myself than Loki. "I just forgot for a second, that's all." I admit. Loki's shoulders move as he sighs, and he pulls me close to him.

"Troublesome little wolf." he says, gaining a small chuckle from me, which eventually causes another small spurt of pain. Loki places a soft kiss to the top of my head, and takes my face into his hands.

"I told you not to get hurt." he scolds lightly with a frown. I sigh, and place my hands over his.

"Trust me, I didn't exactly want to get shot." I tease, gaining my own chuckle from the God before me. He smirks and shakes his head.

"I should probably inform the others that you've waken." he says in a low voice. A small amount of panic starts to fill me at the thought of being alone, and I find myself gripping at the cuffs of his sleeves.

"Please don't leave me." I plead, loosing control of my tongue to the fear I have gained from the incident. The terror must have been clear in my voice, because his eyes soften, and his face contorts into a look of worry and concern. He leans down and places a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm not going to leave you." he coos, and takes a seat beside me on the small bed. An illusion of Loki leaves the room, and I snuggle into his side as he leans back against the pillows. "I've got you. No one can hurt you now.

******

We sat like that- cuddled together- until the rest of the group showed up. I was surprised by how quickly they all arrived, along with the expressions of concern plastered onto their faces. 

"How are you feelin' kid?" Tony asks, his voice laced with worry. I sigh, and sit up slowly- with help from Loki- from my lying position. 

"About as good as I can be." I answer, giving him the best smile I could muster. 

"I'm so sorry, Tien," Steve begins, taking a small step towards the bed. "We should have done better. You shouldn't have gotten hurt." 

I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. 

"Please," I begin, softening my expression. "This kind of thing happens in our line of work. It would have happened eventually. What happened, happened. It's in the past now." I say, gaining small nods of acceptance from my companions. I smirk. 

"Besides," I begin. "I always kinda wondered what it was like to get shot." 

That gains a few chuckles, and I am thankful for that. I can't have them blaming themselves for something that was inevitable. Anything can happen to any of us at any time.  

"I hate to bring this up now," Steve begins, shoving his hands into his pockets. "But the doctor instructed that you stay in the Tower for a few days, and you can't go on missions for a few weeks." He explains slowly, in a low voice. I take in what he says, and nod slowly. Then a thought pops into my head, and I start to panic a little. 

"Does that mean I'll have to be alone while you're all away on missions?" I ask, my voice mush more fear-filled than I had intended. Tony quickly shakes his head and takes a step forward. 

"Absolutely not." he says, crossing his arms over his chest. "You can't stay here alone, not in this current state." he says. His outside demeanor was calm, and protective, but his eyes revealed the worry and- was it fear?- that he felt about the subject. Everyone else nodded, and then a conversation broke out about who would stay with me. 

Bruce's name came up early in the conversation (since he usually stays behind unless things are urgent), but the idea was quickly shut down due to the fact that he would just stay in the lab all day, and  I would still- for the most part- be alone. This went on for much longer than it needed to, and I finally decided upon making a connection to everyone's minds. 

'Hey!' I yelled through the connection, causing everyone to jump, and turn their attention to me. I break the connection, and my head starts to spin. I squeeze my eyes shut, and only open them again after the dizziness goes away. 

"What if Loki stays?" I suggest, slowly looking around the room at my family. Tony shakes his head quickly, and crosses his arms again. 

"Absolutely not." he repeats. I furrow my eyebrows, and mock his posture. 

"Why not?" I challenge, leaning back slightly against the pillows. "He hasn't been on the team long, and if I'm being honest, I'm almost positive that he is the only one who can handle the small, scared and timid Tien." I say, referring to how I was when I had first arrived at the Tower. I know I have grown more comfortable, and have opened up a little more since then, but I can feel her creeping back since getting shot. Training my mind go come back from the incident will take a while. That requires willingness from me, along with patience and willingness to help from someone else. And Loki is the best candidate for this situation. 

Tony glares between myself and Loki for a good minute before huffing a 'fine. 

"But if you do anything," he begins, pointing at Loki. "And I mean ANYTHING, to hurt her, you will have this whole team on your ass." 

Loki wraps an arm around my shoulders, and pulls me close to him. His head inclines, and I can feel the worry in his slightly diminish. 

"I wouldn't expect anything less." 

******

I couldn't sleep. Being shot had brought back nightmares of being tortured every time I close my eyes long enough to drift to sleep. Except it was worse now. Before, I could handle it, because it was the same face from my past. But now, now it was the faces of my team mates- my family.

Insomnia gnawed at my brain as I lay in my bed, staring up at the ceiling; wishing that the peacefulness of sleep would consume me. But my eyes were stuck open, and a dull pain in my side kept me from getting comfortable. 

I breathe in as deeply as I can without triggering spurts of pain, and slip out from beneath my sheets. I put on a fuzzy pair of socks, along with one of Loki's hoodies that I stole a little while back, grab my cat plushie, and sneak out of my room. I hesitate as I get to the elevator, and part of me wants to see if Loki is awake. 

'It's pretty late,' I remind myself as i get into the elevator, and press the button that will take me down to the kitchen. 'And just because I can't sleep, doesn't mean that I should disturb someone else's.'

The area was quiet- too quiet for my liking. It was strange, not seeing anyone around. I shrug the paranoia off, and go into the kitchen. I grab a medium sized pot from one of the cabinets, and search the pantry for the box I was looking for. I find it, and set it aside as I begin to boil water in the pot. 

The water took much longer than I had wanted it to- causing me to revert to other snacks to keep me busy. I hope Thor will forgive me for eating most of his pop-tarts. 

I sat, spinning in one of the chairs at the counter, when a figure emerged from the elevator that had just opened. I made a dagger out of ice when the panic builds within me, and I only absorb the ice back into my hand when I recognize him. 

"Tien?" Loki questions, a concerned expression plastered onto his face. "What are you doing up at, what time is it? Uh. . .three thirty in the morning making Mac n' Cheese?" he asks, gesturing to the pot of water on the stove that has FINALLY begun to boil, along with the box of said food beside it. I sigh, and hop down from the stool as he slowly approaches, and I pour in the box of noodles. 

"Look," I begin, using telekinesis to stir the noodles so that I can turn to face my Loki. "I don't ask for much in life, but just this once, please don't question my madness."   

He sighs, and joins me in the kitchen, cupping my face with his hands. He frowns, and his eyebrows furrow. 

"What's wrong?" he asks, voice laced with worry. His words brought brimming tears to my eyes. I have gone five years of my life without anyone giving a damn about what happened to me, other than for their own personal benefit. Now, I am surrounded by people who genuinely care, and actually show it. It's overwhelming sometimes. 

 I shake my head in response and curse myself as a tear falls. His expression worsens, and he wipes the tear away with the pad of his thumb. 

"Please tell me," he practically begs. It is strange to think that this was the man who was nearly hated by our team mates. He is kind, and caring, and makes me feel safe. But then, I suppose, those things may only be directed towards me. I squeeze my eyes shut and a few more tears slip. I can hear the burner clicking off, and feel Loki's arms wrapping around me. 

"I can see it in your eyes. The panic. What's gotten you so scared, love?" he asks gently. I wrap my arms around him, and release a shaky sigh. 

"Nightmares," I whisper. I hold him close to me, and try to focus on his heart beat. Loki sighs, and we are engulfed in green light. Suddenly, we are no longer in the kitchen, but standing in my room. Loki places a soft kiss on the top of my head, and releases me. I frown, and look up at him. 

"Hey," I whine, causing him to smirk. He rolls his eyes and takes a seat on my bed. 

"Oh, hush, little wolf. Come sit." he says, patting the bed beside him. I sigh, and walk over to the bed, and carefully climb onto it without triggering the pain in my side. There is a flash of green light, and then sitting in Loki's place, is the cat. I smile, and immediately run my fingers through his fur. 

"Now that's not fair," I pout, but continue to play with his fur. He purrs, and nuzzles into me. I sigh, and lay down on my back; Loki cuddling as close as he can to my side. I can feel his body practically vibrating from the purring, and I can't help but giggle. He lays his head on my shoulder, and snuggles his body between my arm and torso. 

The feeling that flooded my body next made me exhilarated, and completely terrified. It was strange. Lovely, warm, and safe- but nervous, petrified, and sorrowful. I had no word to call it, and that scared me. I tried to keep that feeling from reaching Loki, and by the fact he had not changed his appearance, or position made it clear to me that I had done my job right. 

I try to push that feeling to the back of my mind, and swear to myself that I would figure out what it was soon. But for now, I close my eyes, snuggle with the cat in my arms, and finally, FINALLY, drift into a nightmareless sleep.  


End file.
